


Catch a Falling Star

by AlienStarlight



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teen Titans (Animated Series) Setting, Crossover, F/F, F/M, Gen, Genderbending, M/M, Prompt Fic, Rule 63, Stealth Crossover, Teen Titans References, Tumblr Prompt, rule 63 homestuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-09-11
Packaged: 2019-11-08 20:30:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17988047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlienStarlight/pseuds/AlienStarlight
Summary: This was supposed to be a one-shot based on a prompt I saw on tumblr, but it spiralled out of control immediately. Hero/Villain romance, fem!Erisol, substitution of Teen Titans (cartoon) characters by Homestuck characters. All characters rule 63-ed. Certainly not canon-compliant. Still figuring out relationships and plot."It's such a strange and confusing situation when it should have been simple and in your favour. Every fibre of your being is reacting to this as if you had to save her and heal her, as if it is a tragedy instead of a stroke of victorious luck. You remove your rubber gloves, streaked crimson with her blood."Okay I guess I'm pretty excited about branching this out from just an Erisol romance, but til then it's just that. The prompt:'The hero shows up at the villain’s doorstep one night. They’re shivering, bleeding, scared. There’s also a slightly dazed look in their eyes– they were drugged. They look like they were assaulted. Looking up at the villain, swaying slightly as they’re close to passing out, they mumble “…didn’t know where else to go…” then collapse into the villain’s arms.'





	1. Prompt Reactions

**Author's Note:**

> This whole thing will be from multiple POVs although the entire first chapter is Eridan.
> 
> Someone on tumblr commented on the prompt post about Miike Snow's Genghis Khan (I was all over that music video when it came out) so, IDK, tiny influence if you squint? 
> 
> I hope this fic and pairing hits a kink for someone out there. I am aware that writing rule 63 Erisol is like shouting into the void. (Fun, though).
> 
> Prompt source: https://one-lonely-whumperfly.tumblr.com/post/179549370724/the-hero-shows-up-at-the-villains-doorstep-one
> 
> For reference:  
> Starbloods (the 'Titans'): Karkat, Aradia, Sollux, Nepeta  
> Villains: Eridan, Gamzee, Equius, Vriska, Tavros (not for long!!),  
> Other heroes (if this fic gets that far): John, Dave, Jade, Rose  
> Double agent: Fef, Terezi (Hmmm)  
> Neutral: Kanaya,  
> Enjoy!

You pace back and forth, gnashing your even teeth as the events of the morning replay in your head. The goddamn bastard you'd recently chosen to enter into contract with (unwisely, it would seem) had called you up for a meeting- just to insult you to your face. 

You cannot _believe_ that he's blaming everything on you! It isn't your fault that those godawful so-called Starbloods (a truly terrible name even as far as those disgusting liberal-valued heroes went) kept besting every villainous plot this side of the nation! 

You stomp back over to the other end of your massive chamber and slash your wand through the air in a temper. A searing split appears in the metal wall with a resounding crack, almost providing some form of alleviation to your stress. 

Perhaps you should go out and paint the town _red_ tonight. Circle around Luck's turf and piss him off? 

A cool female voice intrudes upon your brewing storm, and you snap your head towards one of the large screens on the opposite wall.

"Intruder alert," you squint in disbelief before marching over to ogle at the figure that's shown to be leaning next to your front door outside. "Gifted identified. Intruder at Level 11, undetected at previous entrance points. Intruder alert-"

"How the fuck did she get past literally every other checkpoint!?"

"Undetected at previous-"

"Do I live in a peasant cottage or a goddamn fortified mansion with hyper advanced tech!" You scream, banging your fists on the desk, your cool-and-not-hipstery-at-all glasses jumping slightly on your aristocratic nose.

"Intruder identified as Gifted. Proposed Options include ray gun activa-"

"Wait, shut up," you snap, violet eyes taking in the figure on-screen. The tall dark-skinned woman near your door seems to be trying not to slide down the brick wall, one arm around her midriff and her face half-hidden in her other hand. Her shoulder-length wavy hair, seemingly disheveled, was also another factor hiding her face, but you can't help noticing a very faint flicker of sparks around her temples. 

"...Do nothing, Calypso. I will deal with this myself."

You stalk over to the small set of metal stairs that led to the elevator, watching the screen inside as the Starblood remained outside your front door. How _had_ she gotten past all your other security? And why was she slipping up just at your door? This asshole wouldn't dare try and trap you on your own front step... 

But somehow you know she wouldn't. She is irritating and hateful and cocky but there is an unspoken agreement between the two of you. You _know_ this to be true, you know it's not your overly-imaginative wishful thinking. You've run into her a couple of times while you were both doing mundane, non-business things, and unlike the rest of her hippie hero friends she didn't bother to pick a fight. 

There's a sort of mutual indifference to each other's personal lives. You've seen her do Starbucks runs, she's seen you on the best beaches this side of the state. Twice already she caught you escaping the ruins of what would have been the greatest Doom Plots you ever orchestrated; instead of zapping you, she always just stared and shrugged as you continued to abscond. 

And you? You never harm her. Well, no, that's a hasty claim; you do harm her...the two of you do share a very heated rivalry when her team tries to foil your plans. But you never try to kill her. You talk about it a lot, sure, in fact you tend to assure her that you will slit her veins and now she believes you have a strange and unhealthy obsession with her blood. She calls you every vampiric reference her nerdy head can come up with, which pisses you off considering she's best friends with the actual blood-centric freak. You almost want to bite her just to get revenge. 

Almost. 

You tense up every time you catch sight of her flashing to life on any of Calypso's numerous screens, making your way steadily through the villainous lower portion of your mansion, and then the more normal 'civillian' parts. As befitting one of your lineage, you are surrounded by the finest of everything. Camouflaged screens all over the house show you that the Starblood standing on your doorstep still has done nothing, although she's now removed her hand from her face and seems to be having an internal battle about pushing the doorbell on the intercom. You snort. Does she think you were not yet aware of her presence? 

You hesitate as your eyes move to the final tiny screen in the entryway. One grand wooden doorway separates the two of you, and your fingers itch to close upon your science stick within your pocket. 

Suddenly, a buzz sounds, immediately followed by the echoes of chimes further inside the manor. She'd finally pressed the button. 

You magick your cape out of thin air, drawing it around your usual getup: a military-style top and straight trousers, with sleeves rolled up to your elbows and high collar grazing your jaw. As you fix the golden clasp at your neck, you at least know your near-indestructible cape should protect you from any surprises. 

You hear another insistent buzz from your doorbell and roll your eyes. "Hold your horses, I'm comin'."

You brace yourself for combat, and open the door.

She looks like hell. 

She's clad in her usual long, oversized yellow jacket with the huge Gemini symbol on the front and black tights (at least the rest of her team were more heroically-fashionable) but her clothes are ripped, torn, and she's barefoot. Her black hair is so untidy that you can hardly make out her face, but then she looks up at you and you go even more rigid (if that was possible). Her right cheek is swollen, and even though her dark skin doesn't bruise easily (you would know because you always try), a purplish hue tints it. Her nose looks intact but she has a heavy nosebleed, her iconic silver motorcycle goggles with the red and blue lenses are gone, and her eyes- good grief. Her lids hang heavy, curled lashes almost obscuring her obsidian pupils as she tries to stay conscious; but even with that you can see the fear and uncertainty, and suddenly she seems like a lost child. 

"Holy- w-what the fuck-"

"I, I-" she stammers, and a shiver wracks violently through her, as if she was freezing from the inside out. You notice the feeble red and blue glimmer in her dark eyes but her sparks don't come. She shifts her arm involuntarily and you see the zipper on her shredded jacket had broken apart, revealing a bleeding gash on her stomach.

You go cold. 

"I-" she sways and you step closer to her, grimacing as she automatically flinches. But whatever happened to her seems to be finally crashing into her system because another shiver tears through her and she looks back up at you, dazed, and gasps out, "Didn't...know. Where else to go..."

And then the geekiest member of the publicly-adored Starblood heroes, your sworn to death enemy, none other than Gemini herself- falls forwards over your threshold and you swiftly catch her before she hits the marble floor. 

\-----

You have her strapped down to a metal table in one of your smaller chambers, a fortified one because you still don't quite trust her despite her condition. Still, you weren't a complete monster; you'd moved in the necessary medical supplies, removed her jacket (she has nothing but a bra on underneath and now you know why it's always zipped up), slipped in a pillow for her head and a blanket under her back, begun tending to her wounds. Calypso had done a few scans of her but didn't seem to immediately pick up on what was messing her up internally. 

You decided to take her blood and run some tests. (A dream, surely, but now the circumstances are different). 

It's such a strange and confusing situation when it should have been simple and in your favour. Every fibre of your being is reacting to this as if you had to save her and heal her, as if it is a tragedy instead of a stroke of victorious luck. As far as you see it, you may as well deal with her wounds and clean her up, but everything from then on is a battle within your head. You remove your rubber gloves, streaked crimson with her blood. 

_"I didn't know where else to go."_

What the fuck did she mean by that? Why had she not fucked off to her fortress, Starblood Tower and collapsed there instead? Had something happened to her team? If that is indeed the case, then you feel a weird relief that Gemini seems to have survived...if but barely. (You Hope the others didn't).

The beeping alerts you to the results of one of the tests Calypso is running on her blood; you frown as you survey the flashing red across the screen. 

"Traces of altered Faith Slime discovered," Calypso informs you. "Proposed Option, injection of Fuchsia to clear bloodstream."

"Will it still work?" You ask sharply. "What's altered about the Slime?"

A breakdown of data fills the screen, reflected off of your glasses. 

"98% chance of recovery using Fuchsia."

You tap your ringed fingers against the counter nervously. From what you can glean from the data, the Faith Slime that taints Gemini is a different, stronger version; however it does not seem totally irreversible since you have Fuchsia, the only known proper antidote to the poison. 

"Alright," you mutter. "Calypso, prepare it."

You turn around, glaring at your prisoner/patient. Faith Slime is a deadly offshoot of the common SlimePie drug that plagues the lower levels of the city, and both originate from the Makaras. 

However, Kurloz Makara is a very cautious, controlled businesswoman and certainly doesn't sully her skeletal fingers dealing with Starbloods. You can guess, however, that she sent some people to warn BloodKnight off from trying to bargain ethics with her younger sister, Gamzee. You smile grimly; this would certainly send the message to the little loudmouth, because Gemini and BloodKnight are inseparable. That is, if the same message hadn't been sent directly to BloodKnight herself. 

You don a new pair of gloves as Calypso presents you with a syringe containing bright purplish-pink liquid. You tap the end of the syringe to clear air bubbles, then turn to your nemesis to do the necessary- noting the slight movement of her eyelids and trembling lower lip when you do, although she stays unconscious. Applying a wad of medical cotton to the spot where the needle pricked the inside of her arm, you wait. 

Her breathing gradually quickens, sweat breaking on her skin. The injected antidote is taking effect. A quick check at the monitor confirms her vitals reacting how they should, but you keep an eye on her anyway. 

Your mind wanders despite the situation to how vulnerable she looks without her baggy jacket. Her shapely hourglass outline is visible without it, and soft- not physically toned like her teammates. You would scoff if you weren't so hypnotized by her curves and rounds punctuated by lanky limbs and sudden angles where bones stretch skin. She has a lot of stretch marks that starkly appear murky yellow against her dark brown: on her shoulders, her hips, even a couple faintly on her breasts; they're patterned like networks of lightning, which is just so... apt. 

Her silver rings gleam under the clinical light, the Gemini insignia in blue on her right middle finger, red on her left. You suppose that when she has the ability to hover around and shoot lightning, form electric energy shields, and coax her way into most forms of electronic tech- not to mention the mostly defensive role she plays in her team- physical upkeep falls to the side. 

You vaguely know that she clones herself as well, although strangely she's never done it in front of you; her not utilizing something so useful seems off considering it's what she's based her whole identity on.

You will mock her about her lack of toned physique. You don't understand why, but you secretly like it about her...probably because it's a vulnerability, that you will definitely exploit, as is your duty to torture her. 

"Success. Faith Slime drug being eradicated from system. Progress at... 21 percent."

You let out a breath you had been holding. Gently, you comb your fingers carefully through her wavy hair, moving it away from her face. The pack of ice you'd taped against her cheek is hopefully keeping the swelling down, but the trickle of blood from her nose only just seems to have let up, the dark trail drying. You hadn't wanted to clog her nostrils with cotton so you'd just given it a brief wipe; you suspect the ongoing flow was caused by the drug in her bloodstream, causing pressure complications. You hope she's not brain damaged. 

You wonder if and how much internal damage has already been done. 

According to Calypso's estimate, Gemini has had the poison in her system for nearly three hours. Another three without Fuchsia, and she'd be dead. 

The wound on her stomach, however, is another problem altogether. It is superficial enough that her organs aren't in danger, and the slash just barely misses a major artery. Someone deliberately made the cut knowing it wouldn't kill her. 

You had temporarily patched it up the best you could before in your not-panic, noting that it was still rather fresh. You make an educated guess now that any ability to heal has drastically failed because her usual immune defenses are down due to the poison. You need to inspect the wound again, closer. 

Which you proceed to do.

"Faith Slime drug eradication from system, progress at 46 percent."

You barely register Calypso's report, gloved fingers nudging the edge of Gemini's wound. 

Instinctive healing reactions are definitely too slow, fresh blood still seeping out when the stitches are moved. You sigh. 

"Calypso... Monitor the patient."

You walk out of the chamber, throwing a glance back at the hapless hero on your table before shutting the metal door. 

A mysterious associate of yours from Notham, a lovely-deadly gentleman who dabbles in the many properties of biology and vegetation, was persuaded into selling you some of his healing remedies. All it took was for you to supply the wealth to fund the continuance of some of his favourite natural sites (and of course to lie through your teeth about how you wish, like he does, that humanity would go extinct and Mother Nature reign the Earth once more). 

Of course, you still have samples of the wares tested before ever thinking to seriously utilize them, and to your satisfaction (and surprise, as your tree-hugging gentleman friend doesn't seem the reasonable sort) they haven't poisoned anyone yet. 

You stop before a life-sized portrait in the corridor, a lovely Romantic work of a colourful garden. Pressing a finger against the frame next to the lilies, a hidden sensor approves your print and the portrait swings open to reveal a room. 

Ah yes, your pantry of sorts. You do like to think that you're a collector of useful things for rainy days. Whether it's various healing devices from different sources, various weapons from even more sources, or simply mysterious items that project powerful potential, you keep them all in here, within their necessary protective states, of course. 

You walk past the refrigerated section and head to a desk, within which many sections contain bottles and vials and jars of things of natural origin. 

You even have a few dead minions of Rosepetal's, although those have yet to serve you any good. 

Unscrewing a bottle labelled in large cursive writing (you swear if he was a woman you might be irrevocably in love) you sniff at the contents. For the deadly wounded, he'd said, in need of serious healing. One of the features was speeding up the natural healing process; exactly what Gemini needed. 

You hesitate. You do have two more bottles of this, but the question remains: will you really use some on a Starblood? 

The memory of her flinching away from you on your front step, swaying as she tried to stay conscious, invades your mind. Your resolve hardens somehow. 

When you reenter the chamber where she lies unawake, Calypso informs you that the poison is 89% out of her system. The wound you'd stitched up still bleeds, however, so you pour a little of the green substance onto a cotton swab.

"This is probably going to sting," you tell Gemini although she can't hear. 

You don't think she moves at all as you apply the salve to the torn skin, although maybe you just missed any movement on her face. It hardly seems over a minute after you cover the wound in faint green, that her cut seems to clean up of its own accord, the stitches melding into skin. You stare. 

Oh, he was _good_.

Bright green light flashes across the room as Calypso's message of victory fills the screen. Perfect timing, you think, as she announces it verbally. 

"Faith Slime successfully removed from system using Fuchsia injection. No traces detected. Subject retains working immune system."

"That's great!" You whoop before quickly readjusting your cape in embarrassment. 

"And... The damage?"

"Immune system severely weakened, overall biological processes slowed. Full effects on brain being scanned. Fuchsia effect on blood reducing platelet damage, but healing capabilities at risk."

"Right. Well I got just the thing for that..."


	2. Bull's Eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A certain friend of the non-humans wanders back to the scene of her crime, where more innocents are trapped and awaiting her. But this time, before she gets to plan another break-in (or shake off that mysterious woman's voodoo feeling), she's nearly caught by yet another mystery woman. Little does she know, she's the real mystery... 
> 
> And she has no idea that her Sunday fun may have saved a Starblood's life. 
> 
> \--  
> Thanks for the Kudos! That's amazing, I'm so thrilled that I started writing more ♥  
> This was supposed to be the chapter I'd previously written where the Starblood Team gets worried about Gemini... But... Now that I'm getting more invested in this AU I actually just wrote another chapter to slot in before that. I'm supposed to be working...woe is me... (I still had fun tho)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Tavros, everyone, a really cute villain of circumstance who likes to free animals from abusive compounds, destroy meat-selling establishments, and help out the city Vet in exchange for a room in her apartment unit (the vet has a mean landlady but welp).
> 
> She's a lot more powerful than she thinks or even realizes. 
> 
> (She's never felt romantic about anyone in her life, in case anyone wants to know. Also, she's not going to be a villain for long.... Ehhhh)

It breaks your heart. 

Your fingers drift over the shuddering form of the kitten, gently reassuring it. Your other hand pushes the small bowl of milk closer to its face, trying to entice it. 

The little thing just sniffs blindly before it goes back to the agitated trembling. Sighing, you close your eyes and lay your hand on its head. 

Something feels wrong, very wrong...you trace it to where it pulsates strongest, a wave of dysfunction that makes your head spin slightly. Kidneys. 

You open your eyes and remove your hand. Just like the others, this one suffers acute renal failure and there's nothing you can do about it. As always, you get the urge to place your hand upon the creature and will it to good health- but no, it would just upset you again when you fail. 

You are not your mother. Your Gift is limited. 

Standing up slowly so as not to antagonize the dying baby any further, you look up at the barbed fence that runs along the corner of this field, just beyond the city's Southside. You can scale the stupid structure easily even in your pastel skirt (despite what your fatphobic landlord might say), you already have many times. Still, the sight never ceases to fill you with a low, throbbing disquiet. 

Keep Out, Trespassing Prohibited. The sign's big lettering screams at you, but beneath that a tiny trademark catches your attention for the first time: Ampora Securities. 

Ampora, the rumoured war-mongering family? You know that one of them lives right here outside the borders of New Sburb. The estranged, eccentric daughter who makes local headlines by contributing to the scientific community in New Sburb without actually delving into weapon design and manufacturing like her parents supposedly did. 

You hate her family, but from what you hear about her, she spends her time coming up with resources to battle sea pollution. You can't quite decide whether you like her for this, or dislike her for how her mother escaped the law despite claims of unwilling human experimentation conducted alongside her husband. 

Then again, it didn't matter now. Amporas weren't the cause of your furry friends dying; no, this would be the Makaras.

You know damn well that this area has been turned into some sort of lab by the drug dealers, acres of ground surrounding the buildings closed off to ensure nobody got close enough. There was always a whisper in the air here, a neverending scream coming from the labs which nobody could hear...except you. 

Experimenting on humans and experimenting on animals are both evil, there is no doubt within your soul. 

Which is why you'd gone on the rampage on Sunday evening. 

It was quite the excursion: despite the fence and the security, you'd managed to sneak into one of the three main compounds and free some of the caged mammals within before anyone spotted you. Thanks to some outside friends (whole packs of city dogs would die for you as you for them), it had been a successful rescue attempt. 

They had nearly caught you, but again, your canine gang came to the rescue. 

Later, you were hiding outside the parameters for a rest after directing the pups into guiding some of the rescuees to the nearest shelters. Then you saw them. 

A group of flustered and angry men, surrounding a freakishly tall, lanky woman in a black and purple business suit ( _in this weather?_ , you'd thought) that had a bandanna around the face below her nose, with a black and white illustration of a skeletal face to make it seem like only half of her own face had skin. 

You'd been ogling at this pale Slenderman-ish woman, her long, thick, choppy hair pulled back in a ponytail, when you saw her raise a hand at her companions. Immediately, you noticed, all the men fell silent. 

You'd been really impressed. 

Until you saw her glancing around, almost as if she knew you were there. Your blood ran cold, and you desperately tuned into the collective consciousness of the birds tweeting above you in the highest branches of the trees. You needed to calm down, because you're not a hero and your heart is racing and even if that woman looks really classy somehow you do not want to get under those terrifyingly long fingers. 

When you finally managed to calm down and start the inklings of an escape plan, you looked back over to see that they had gone back to their little stroll, arguing away again. Somehow, whether she's Gifted or not, you'd escaped her notice. 

You kept watching her, fascinated by the fact that when instead of speaking she used sign language to communicate, every man around her paid rapt attention. They all understood ASL? Clearly, this woman was a big boss. 

Now that you think back on all this, you're sure you saw a Makara. 

You don't know much about the Makaras, nobody seems to want to talk about them openly. They mostly avoid publicity and although you've seen suspicions of their wealth and activities in tabloids, the cops never seem to actually catch them doing anything. Somehow, you'd thought of them as typical mobster men in gang tattoos and shitty overexpensive shoes. You've never seen their gender mentioned anywhere, and the only name anyone dared use in the vaguest of circumstances, "Kurloz", hadn't sounded feminine to you. 

Well, the woman you saw actually was wearing overpriced men's work shoes, now that you think about it. 

Why on earth are you thinking about her shoes? You sigh and try to focus. Those trapped friends needed you, and here you are strolling down memory lane. 

You really need to fix your daydreaming habit. 

Breathing in and out slowly, you expand your consciousness from where you sit on grass, through the brief empty space, and towards the scared and tired collective existence that calls to you. You are so, so sorry you didn't get to free them all. Now security is beefed up and it'll be harder to get inside again, not to mention the tall lady might be waiting around for you to pop back in. 

You hardly saw her face and she scares you already. More than LuckBandit, more than The Scienceress, more even than the Starblood pests... and you don't even know how or why. 

You're thinking about her again. 

"Urgh," you groan, feeling the fold of skin between your brows. You breathe in again and let it out slowly. "Concentrate... Hngh-"

You reach them, and you are briefly overwhelmed by the wordless anxiety and confusion and jaded resignation. Pulling yourself back to your centre, you generate a thick sense of peace from within your core and bring it to them, flinging it as far over the discord as you can. 

The effect is almost immediate, slowly the fear dies down, slowly, as if you'd sedated them. There are still a large number of creatures in there and you just have to wonder yet again for the millionth time- what the _hell_ are these demons doing to them in there? 

You hadn't taken the opportunity to probe any of the animals you set free before, having been too concerned about them making the trek to the closest bewildered veterinarian. Now, you hinge onto one of the more human-like pulses of intelligence, hoping to glean insight. 

A chimpanzee, how terrible, how dare they. (Then again, you feel this about every kind of animal they've got locked away in there). 

You try to interact with the startled creature, but it takes a few minutes of soothing for him to let you access his memories. 

Fluids, cylindrical things that sting and hurt. Dizziness, dizziness, no hope, tiredness. 

You frown as you piece together the colors and imagery of this recollection, sewing it back with the ghosts of primal emotion in the memory. 

They're drugging the animals? It seems most of his recollections involve this process, with perhaps less lethargic results, even some rage-fueled reactions-

You stop suddenly, shaken to your core. Something has jarred you, touched _you_ , and it feels almost like a physical finger trying to feel you within the medley of animal minds, recognizing that _you_ are somehow capable of reaching these creatures-

You gasp, and withdraw from your friend, and you feel him falling off the edge of a panic as you leave, but at least the others still seem relaxed beneath your comfort. You flounder for a moment, and to your horror, the human presence follows. 

Reeling back into yourself, your eyes fly open and you jerk out of your position on the grass, panting. Memories of that tall woman with the classy clothes and the long yet slender fingers invade your mind. A blush rises within your cheeks and you shiver. 

_She's still there._

Cautiously, you seal yourself off mentally, slowly moving forwards to peek at the area beyond the fencing. You're dancing on your toes, ready for flight. 

A figure emerges from behind a warehouse on the far left on the other side of the fence. 

You stumble back immediately, but do not abscond. She doesn't see you at once, she seems to be scanning the surroundings slowly, but you _know_ this is the presence. 

It's not the skeletal lady at all, although something about her lean body is similar. This woman is far shorter, maybe around your height even. Her thick hair is layered so that only wisps reach her shoulders, and she's wearing a baggy T-shirt and shorts. The nauseating bright goo green of her sneakers clashes horribly with the dull purple of the rest of her getup. 

You take another few steps back. She senses the motion and turns towards you. 

There's a mismatch between your consciousness and hers, a sort of similarity that unsettles because it operates on different levels for each of you. You skim around her even as your gazes interlock; her external silence masks depths of ricocheting screams. She seems astounded by you, eyes devouring as if starving, unable to unleash her terrors onto you.

You turn around and flee. 

Folding back into your core, you are vaguely aware that she is watching you, perhaps even trying to climb the fence and run after you. But after minutes of running the fuck away, finally within view of the city's first layer of brick, stitches in your sides and suffocation squeezing at your lungs, you know for sure you've been left alone. You're still free. 

You remember the kitten and the fact that you're too afraid to go back almost drives you to tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this didn't have Erisol, but it's coming up, I swear... Okay I'm definitely posting the next chapter immediately, it was supposed to be chapter 2 but now is 3 thanks to this Tavros addition! 
> 
> Much love, hope you like!


	3. Wake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Starblood Team is finally noticing that one of their brood is gone longer than usual. Well, BloodKnight was painfully aware the whole time because that's just how she is any time a member of her Team leaves her sight. 
> 
> Gemini wakes up from one nightmare to another, but honestly? It could've been much worse, and though she can't properly remember, it's probably her fault she's even here. She's in a kismesissitude with life and she never wins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The promised chapter lol plus the next bit as well, might as well make them one chapter. Enjoy!

"Hey fuckwads, has anybody seen Gemini?"

The two boys playing video games in the Recreation Hall- as different as day and night and united only by games and fighting crime- both look up at your question. Heartfire runs a claw through his sunny blonde hair and blinks at you owlishly before responding. 

"I thought she was with you, Charm." 

You roll your eyes before settling them on the other guy, who regards you with a level stare of his own. Obviously the only reason he even physically responded to you while he was gaming is because you mentioned Gemini being missing. 

"Well?" You ask testily. As the leader of the Starbloods, you're always trying to remain neutral, but Akuma isn't exactly your favourite member. Maybe it's the ever-suffering glare in his refined Japanese eyes, or the deep blood-red, curled-V shaped gem set between them on his forehead, or the strange blue-gray tint to his pale skin...or the fact that he's been the most passively uncaring member during the last four years. 

He redirects his gaze to the console in his hand, frowning slightly. "I have not spoken to her since our team outing on Saturday night."

Over the weekend you'd insisted on dragging everyone out to the city to do something fun as a group. Just when stupid LuckBandit decided to pull one of his chaotic, mindless stunts of terror, which put an end to your Saturday Night. One of his stupid blue game dice had even gotten into your bra somehow, which had made you lose your temper when you were changing out of your costume later before collapsing into bed. 

The next day, you remember seeing Gemini briefly in the late morning before she informed you she was going to the city. You don't remember seeing her around since, and she hasn't been answering your messages.

"Well it's Wednesday evening already, where the fuck is she?" You demand angrily. "She can't just keep fucking off whenever she feels like it."

A dark expression crosses Akuma's usually stoic face but Heartfire speaks first. "Aw, Knightie, don't worry! I bet she's just hanging around somewhere, she's fine. I'll text her right now!"

You feel your cheeks warm up as Akuma looks suddenly less inclined to bite your head off. "Who's worried! I'm just trying to enforce the damn house rules!"

"Well... Maybe if she's not answering you...then you could just..."

You know what Katt is trying to say. You'd been wanting to the whole time, but didn't want to be the one to say it. Fiddling with your wristcomm, you access the feature that only your version has. 

Strangely, instead of coordinates and a brief status report, Gemini's signal doesn't even respond. A red X flashes across your tiny screen, and you growl in frustration. 

"...Her comm is offline."

Snapping the protective casing back over your wristcomm, you look up at the others. 

"You...can't locate her?" Heartfire looks very concerned now, and you catch the feeling. "Why would she turn off her comm?"

"...And not respond to our messages..." you add, staring out the glass window at the distant city. "Ghosting is one thing, but..no comm signal?"

"Perhaps we should go look for her," Akuma suggests. "It is unlike her to turn her comm off with no update when she's away more than two days."

It is clear among all of you - silence is easily mistaken for a man down. Even though you are all in your twenties (with you nearing your damn thirties), technically adults who can do whatever you want, the nature of your job and your existence is such that you require constant reassurance that the team is alive. The only people who tend to still disappear sometimes are the younger members- Gemini and Akuma, but he usually drops a one-word text to Gemini even during his darkest depressions. And she usually drops a message to _you_ when she remembers to be something above irresponsible. 

But three days? Too long. She is going to get her dumb, nerdy ass handed to her on a silver platter by yours truly. 

"Damn right we're gonna look for her. This kind of behavior won't fly around here!" You're shouting now, and Akuma looks exasperated but Heartfire jumps up in glee. Sometimes you forget that he's the 26-year old and Akuma is 21.

"Ooh, Charm, it's a hunt! Shall we contact the ones known as the Reverse Team?"

Sometimes you really wonder what planet he's from. 

"You mean the _Reserve_ Team, you numbskull? God forbid you ever say "reverse team" in front of them, that asshole Gale would definitely find something to be offended about."

"Ah, that's what I meant, Charming!"

"I'm warning you, Katt, not in the mood for your names," you growl, absolutely ignoring his wide green eyes of innocence. God damn it, Heartfire. 

"Sorry..."

"I suppose you've tried calling her numerous times?"

You turn to Akuma. "Billions. She hasn't picked up or anything."

He definitely has an expression on his face now, and it's worried. He glances at his barely-touched mobile phone on the coffee table. Somehow, it sends you into Leader Mode. 

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do," you start, jumping off of the mutual concern for Gemini's well-being. The chess pieces are moving in your head, but strategy may fail if luck isn't in your favour... 

And you're not sure Gemini has ever been particularly lucky. 

 

\-----

Ughhhh. 

Why the fuck do you feel like shit. 

The unearthly hues and strange happenings of your dream world meld together and ebb away into inky darkness. You realize that you're awake, that you had not been awake before this, that you're lying somewhere hard with aches in your body and a terrible paranoia dancing on the idea of opening your eyes. 

A smooth voice sounds out from somewhere above and your paranoia spikes. 

"Subject displaying signs of consciousness."

_What the fuck?_

Your eyelids flutter open reluctantly, an idealist description because a couple of your long-ass eyelashes curve wrongly downwards somehow and poke you in the eye. Great. 

Why does it feel like every pain in your physical being sharpens to a hundred percent the second you decide to act awake? Not to mention you keep blinking at the clinical bright light above you... Where are your goggles? _Hello, god, is that you within that sickening bright light??_

Or perhaps it's your father's colleagues. The thought, emerging from a long-forgotten time of deep-rooted fear, pushes you to speak as adrenaline spikes. 

"What's happening," you utter but your words slur and it sounds more like "whafss haaainng".

"Oh gods, she's finally fuckin' awake. Finally."

The glare is suddenly cut off and you make out that someone is leaning over you. You shift uncomfortably. 

"Wait, you're not gonna drift off again are you?"

You.. you recognize that voice. 

"Who..." ("Huuuoooo") 

She doesn't say anything for a while. Then she sighs.

That really annoying sigh. 

"AAAAAHH!"

She backs away quickly in surprise, but you're too busy taking in the enormous shock of everything that just registered in your brain. The general soreness aside, you realize that your wrists and ankles are shackled down; when you move your body a horrible sharp pain in your stomach threatens to make you puke; and that person who was hovering over you? Eridan fucking Ampora. 

Or Scienceress, whatever. You found out her civilian identity ages ago, not that the pretentious dumbass is aware of that. But anyway. 

You are soooo screwed. 

An annoying beeping noise vaguely penetrates your unraveling, and you hear that smooth, mechanical voice announce something but the words escape you. You're blinking furiously and trying to confirm to yourself that it's Scienceress standing above you. 

"Right- Hey, you need to calm down," it sounds like an order and you _know_ it's her. 

"Hell no, what have you done to me you witch?" You try to summon your psionics, but you just get a horrible throbbing headache instead. More pain, yeah, pretty much seems like your shit life. 

"What?" She sounds genuinely confused, but then her voice goes back to its usual threatening tone. "You mean apart from savin' your life, ingrate? Call me witch again, I dare you."

"You literally call yourself Scienceress, but go off I guess."

"Shut up," she snaps and you feel her hand close around your arm in an iron grip. You flinch at the cool feeling, is she wearing gloves? 

"What are you doing?" You really start to panic now, because you can't really make anything out except white light, the glare off Scienceress's hipster glasses, and a metal wall beyond her. "Why- what-"

"Will you stop babbling? Apart from the fact that I can barely make out your nonsense, yo-"

"NO! NO! NO!" You just noticed that the reason you're so cold is that your iconic, multipurpose jacket is gone. You're practically naked. That's _it,_ you're freaking out.

You continue screeching the word "no" as a tick to the panic checklist that you're going through in your sluggish mind. Confused and disoriented? Check. Bad physical pains? Check. Tied down? Check. No protective gear? Check. Unable to spark up? Fucking check. 

Presence of devious supervillain over your semi naked unprotected form? Huge ass check.

You start screaming. You're not even sure why considering it won't do any good, but you're not feeling very sharp at the moment. 

A gloved hand clamps down over your mouth, and the dull ache in the side of your face throbs harder. 

"Shut the fuck up," she hisses. "Don't make me regret saving your pathetic life."

Your response is completely muffled but that's fine because you're not sure if you'd gotten out a "what", "no", or "fuck".

"Seriously, Gemini. The only reason I don't knock you out right now is because someone already beat me t- well, to the punch," the tone of her voice lightens for a moment in self-appraisal and you wish you could zap her. She refocuses on you and adopts a mock bedside manner. "I understand that you're probably a little confused, but know that you're only alive right now cuz of me."

You know exactly what's struggling to escape your mouth right now. "Liar!!"

"Hmm?" She lifts her hand and you scream the word again, earning a harder clamp down.

"Fucking simpleton," she bites out and you get another wave of headaches from the renewed effort of trying to fry her. Not even a single spark. Something clues her in on what you're trying to do, however, and she smirks briefly. 

"Don't bother, Starblood, your powers took a hit from the damage wrought by the drug." She moves out of sight, taking her hand with her, but you're too focused on her words to yell again. "You're just too weak to flare up. In fact, I still haven't tested out how much damage you've really sustained... And whether it affects your Gift."

You strain to process anything that's happening, but her arrogant voice does register. The word 'drug' incites a vague and sudden memory in your head, not quite whole. You groan at the migraine. 

"Yes, you're probably going to suffer if you keep trying to use your psionics. Faith Slime is a natural Gift suppressor, you should already know that."

_Faith Slime_.

It's like a freefall from one of your nightmares. Somehow you're not with Scienceress anymore, you're elsewhere, and it's _dark_ and you're scared and you know that woman before you but you also don't know her because you've never seen her act like this and she's sober but she's also absolutely terrifying and you're... You're going to die. 

Slowly, painfully, and you're not even sure why, and that's the worst part, because it all seems so pointless, a pointless death for a pointless human being, so much for being a Starblood, BloodKnight is going to go rogue and Akuma is going to lose it-

"Stop! Stop! What'sa matter with you!?"

Scienceress is back within your vision and so is the bright light and the awful gray room. She's shaking you by the shoulders. 

"Will you fuckin' stop, you're gonna tire yourself out and lose consciousness! I will deck you, shut the fuck up!"

You're screaming, your mouth is wide open and the fearful yells that were ringing in your ears this whole time... are yours. You immediately stop, and your mouth snaps shut. 

She relaxes, but her grip remains biting into your shoulders. 

A sound embarrassingly akin to a whimper escapes you and- uh oh. 

Fuck no. No no no no. Not in front of _her_.

"W-what," she stammers, letting go of you as if she's scalded. You can see her violet eyes _now_ , when you don't fucking want to, because her glasses aren't reflecting the glare at this angle. Her gaze is trained on your eyes, on your tears. 

"Hey now," she says awkwardly and you shut them in mortification. This _idiot_ , of all people. 

You're definitely sniffling now, and you fucking wish you were dead. 

"Hey. You're safe," your stupid fucking nemesis literally says to you, voice gentle. You feel dry cotton being trailed across your cheeks. "I, I mean, the restraints are just for, well, for your own good really. I wasn't sure if you were gonna pull anything when you finally woke."

"Why-" you grit out, raspy and slow. "Why am I _here_."

She doesn't answer for a while and you finally open your eyes again to look at her. Her face is impassive, and for some reason you sense disappointment rolling off of her. "You...still don't remember?"

"Reme-member what!"

You're really thirsty now but crying actually seems to make you feel better; your headache has dropped to a dull background grind. You still wish you were dead. 

"Remember how you got here. Because I sure as fuck don't know..."

"What?" 

"I mean, you just, you showed up at my front door on the verge of death. Definitely wanna hear how you managed the travel...and also how you got past my security. Or knew where I live?" Her eyes narrow at you behind her lenses. "Guess you know who I am then, too."

Oh shit. You stare at her, too nonplussed to go back to crying. She sighs again. 

"Look. Maybe you should just rest up for now. You did survive a lethal dose of Faith," she says and you do everything you can not to fall into an abyss of bad recent memories. "I did what I could, but you need to do the rest by healing."

"You...what did you do?"

She fixes you with a reproachful glare. "Well, for one thing, I cleaned up your fuckin' wounds. On the losing end of a brawl, weren't you?" You feel her rubber fingers trace down your bare midriff to where the sharp pain has fallen into an uncomfortable raw soreness. She definitely did more than clean up, it should feel way worse and you know it. 

"And of course I flushed the poison outta your system. You owe me your life for that, by the way."

Everything is so overwhelming and your face is burning and your cheek is throbbing. You hate her so much.

"Why."

"Huh?"

"Why! Why would you do that?!"

She stares at you without a flicker of emotion. 

"Your brain is scrambled," she says coldly. "Clearly, we will need to run some tests to figure out how much harm was done. But we can do that later, after you take a little nap."

You make an expression at her that you can't describe as much as feel, baring your teeth and wrinkling your nose in angry disgust. 

"Well, if you don't wanna respect bedtime, I can always just...make you." She holds up a syringe so you can see it. Your eyes widen; you _hate_ needles. 

"You keep that shit away from me!"

"I'm guessing you would not like the assistance?"

You vigorously shake your head, earning the start of another migraine. She grins. 

"Then you better be snoring away when I come back in fifteen minutes." Thankfully she sets the offending object down and you relax slightly. "I'm going to attend to more important business, but if you're in need of anything just inform Calypso."

"...Calypso?"

"My very own digital assistant. Just speak, she'll hear."

You nod slightly, wondering at her apparent kindness, as she disappears from sight. 

"Excellent." You hear her say before the sound of a metal door shuts. You exhale slowly, totally at a loss. You can't help the insistent urge to reexamine the struggling memory of your capture and escape. 

How on earth are you supposed to fall asleep now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some clarifications:  
> Karkat - BloodKnight, called Charm within the team because she gave them that as a substitute for her real name which she keeps buried.  
> Heartfire - "I guess in your language, beautiful, my real name would be Heart-fire. But uh I did use the name WildKatt before I got to New Sburb" literally how he introduced himself to Karkat years ago, and she calls him Katt because she liked it.  
> Akuma - his name has always been Akuma as far as he's known, he doesn't know his real surname and he doesn't give a shit.  
> Gemini - real name Sollux Kathiravan, she legally changed it to her late mother's surname, Captor. Only her teammates are supposed to know this. 
> 
> Anyone with enough sense and knowledge of Eridan Ampora the eccentric loner heiress could probably start suspecting at some point that she has something to do with The Scienceress. But then maybe that's why she's an eccentric loner (heiress). As The Scienceress, she plots "mindless" doomsday schemes that crush the businesses of her family competitors. (She does aim for doomsday success though).
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


	4. Links

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of Eridan brooding, a whole lot of Starbloods hunting.
> 
> For someone who was rather obsessed- that is to say, mildly interested- by Gemini, Eridan really doesn't know what makes the Starblood tick. Thankfully, Calypso can shed some light on that soon without having to take Gemini apart like a clock. 
> 
> The Team searches the city for one of their own, although BloodKnight believes it's more of an idiot-retrieval than an actual rescue mission. As their little chase transpires, though, the Leader herself begins to worry. Did her tech nerd stumble across something that should have been brought to her attention straight away?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm forcing myself to finally post this up. The number of times I re-edited these before this posting...change of ideas, perception of interactions, bluh bluh. Anyway, I hope they don't disappoint, I'm constantly trying not to be lame in this tbh.
> 
> I'm considering posting the next chapter right away, but we'll see... 
> 
> Also I just realized I've written from 4 POVs and they're all the ladies eheh oh well

You pace around the calming perfection of your favourite Lavender Room, hands locked into fists at your sides. You had lied about being back in fifteen minutes, of course, you didn't really want to stick any form of opioid in her. Although the idea of scaring her with anything while she struggles, strapped down, is a rather good notion. You remember how she blasted you off your war-machine during your last encounter, not even bothering to stop your fall- sure, you were able to swing back up on your own (and you did), but still.

You turn to the small screen at the corner of the room, monitoring Calypso who is monitoring Gemini. It was rather unnerving, as the first few minutes seemed to be attempts at sleep, followed by sudden shaking and whimpers (you'd felt a little bad for not going over to check on her), and then another episode of screaming. She'd jolted upwards then, held down only by the restraints. 

Calypso had sent you an alarm about it but you were unsure what to do; deciding to continue watching as she had not called out for help, you saw the hero ultimately calm down from whatever she had been going through. She spent ages after that fidgeting and groaning and cursing, almost too low for you to make out. 

Finally, after forty-seven minutes (instead of fifteen), she seemed to succumb once more to physical exhaustion. Calypso confirmed it by notifying you of her unconsciousness, along with the latest report of her increasingly recovering vitals. No visible lasting damage anywhere, not her brain, her other organs, her circulatory system.

However, Calypso does additionally send you a complete report of something stranger, which piques your interest as you skim through what is apparently Gemini's supposedly natural biological state. You remember some of the readings Calypso gave you during your panicked patching-up of the Starblood, the night she turned up: how there were slight anomalies detected in her circulatory system and cranium. However, since they were apparently not going to interfere with saving her life, you'd soon moved on...but now...you keep the overall report for thorough perusal later. 

You're reluctant to return to the chamber where you have her locked down. Snippets of the conversation you two had earlier replays in your mind. 

What the hell did she mean, _why_? If you didn't know any better, you'd say she had wanted to die. Despite your irritation at her, the wiggling doubt makes its way across into your head: it's not that you can't answer her, it's that you can't answer yourself. 

You don't logically know why you'd gone to such lengths not just to save her life, but to fix her up as best you could. Cushions and blanket separating her body from the hard metal table she deserves (the damn interfering Starblood). It would be easy to wave it all off as gaining the upper hand over her, breaking the Starblood stronghold by owning the life of it's most vulnerable member. You do absolutely thrill at the idea. 

But that's where it all gets shaky: you know that's not why you really did this, not while you were doing it. The only driving force was the muted horror and urgency inside you overlapped with solid determination to revert her back to her original snarky state. Even now, though her consciousness is tampered by the slow recovery process, a fiery single-minded purpose fills you whenever she opens her snide mouth, whenever her eyes fall upon you, whenever-

God you need a therapist. Perhaps you should give Dr Engelmann a ring. 

In any case, whether it would've been easier to let her die or pawn her off to another villain, perhaps it's as simple as the fact that she's your favourite target in a Starblood fight, and what is a purpose without the challenge? Not to mention, you have to know how she managed to figure out your civilian identity. And since you didn't kill her over that, and your spy has informed you that the other Starbloods are perfectly alive, you're just going to have to imprison her. Forever. 

Yes, a very good concept. 

That brings forward a more urgent question: how do you keep a sneaky Technokinetic Codifier locked down inside your technologically-run manor? The handful of chambers you'd had designed as dungeons had cameras and tech or wires in the walls, making them unusable for this particular Gifted. You can't keep her strapped to the table forever; she's definitely going to have another tantrum when she realizes you've had Calypsobot affix her with adult diapers (you were so embarrassed about this that you couldn't be present, let alone do it yourself.)

You're not sure you should even have Calypsobot touch her when she's awake. Are _all_ her powers down? Can she infiltrate and sway Calypso's loyalties? 

...would she? 

She would if she knew you were planning on keeping her here. Clearly, you won't ultimately be able to be as generous to her as you'd like...which is probably good because you shouldn't be generous to your arch nemesis anyway, this is stupid, this is exactly why LuckBandit accused you of half-assing things with the Starbloods. You can't have a weird soft spot for the person you're hate-obsessed with. 

So you decide that you don't. You take a deep breath, smoothing down your clothing as you exhale. Certainly Father would not approve of you fraternizing with the enemy, and Mother would simply have scoffed at the embarrassment of having you for a child. Not that either of their opinions matter now, or ever again really. 

The only thing that matters is figuring out how you're going to contain her, which should be doable once you establish a completely organic chamber somewhere under basement level. She can't control tech that isn't within her direct vicinity, as far as you know. And her own gadgets weren't on her, not even her goggles (you don't fully understand the capabilities of those, but you know they're not just regular motorcycle goggles.)

Something hits you- her rings. You remember the gleaming silver bands with dual-coloured Gemini insignias (she really overdoes that...wait, is she an actual Gemini-born? Why have you never thought of that before? You bet she is, the ass. Then again, who believes in zodiac signs?). You're not sure what kind of tech is possibly stored in those rings but you decide to remove them immediately anyway. 

The only other things on her is a bra, her panties (you removed the tights to check for bruising), and her tiny pearl stud earrings (you'd examined these out of interest, seeing as she's usually tackier than that). 

Sighing, you head out into the hallway and approach a vast art print protected by clear glass, pressing your thumb at the bottom corner. The glass immediately awakens to its true purpose as a screen, a backlight appearing to block out the swirling colours of the print. 

"Hmm." The westside basement wing had dungeons at the end, but was crawling with wires and had some of your best tech design closer to the centre. You have a handful of untouched chambers on the east end, but even the unfinished ones had some form of electronics inside to always keep Calypso at reach. Be that as it may, it was minimal and mostly rough patches. You're just going to have to do some speedy renovations. 

"Calypso," your eye falls on a particular chamber, a little removed from the rest of the wing in the layout. You expand the area on the screen with your fingers, surveying the possibilities. "I'm going to need some major changes made to this room here. In fact, this entire corridor in the east wing of the basement. We're going to rip out any form of electronics."

"Query: Does 'any form of electronics' include electricals such as lighting-"

"Ugh," you try to think back to everything you've ever seen Gemini do. There were times she hacked into the mainframe of your various doomsday devices (including that time you teamed up with Automata, another tech whiz) and you've seen her touch electronics, almost caressing them, but you've also seen her clacking away like a normal hacker. She shoots electric fire out of her hands (and eyes, sometimes), so clearly she could manipulate electric energy. 

But that power seemed to be generated within her, or at least, that was what you had always believed. It is ridiculous how much you take Gemini's abilities for granted, considering how meticulously you've studied the powers of her colleagues; she'd just always seemed so direct, simply straightforward. Maybe that was part of the foil, you realize. At times, she surprises everyone with some new little trick because nobody tends to focus on the apathetic lightning nerd playing defense when there's a demonic psychic floating next to her, a pouncing agile cat-man with solar beams, and their gadget-savvy, shield and dual sickle-wielding, martial arts expert of a leader. 

For example, her ability to create doubles of herself, which you know is what she's known for having done when the Starbloods first popped up. She never does it now, you don't even know if that fits into her electrokinetic department somehow. Does she sustain the copies with electrical energy? Does it have nothing to do with it at all? 

You really should take a better look at Calypso's full-body report on her. 

"Mistress Ampora, pending query-"

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, rip out everything, take it back to the dark fuckin' ages. We're gonna make a real dungeon for her." You pause. "I'll send the layout designs over in a bit, with detailing."

"Duly noted: Calypsobot H, Calypsobot J and Calypsobot R will attend to this immediately. Calypsobot F remains with the task of surveilling the recovering Gifted."

"Great. Oh yeah, have F remove the two rings on the Starblood's hands, would you? Without severing her fingers, ideally."

"Query: Location for removed items to be deposited?"

"Bring them to me."

You flick away the diagrams of your manor's lower levels. Tapping on a hidden folder path, you enter into your records on the Starbloods. 

Gemini's details are pretty transparent, if brief. Mid-twenties, no hint at biological family since her first appearance with the Starbloods nearly five years ago. You'd usually be able to get information on people but all of hers is particularly sealed, even within other parties' sites like the government's private register for Gifteds in the area. 

All her abilities that you've ever encountered are listed down, plus the famous one that you've never personally seen. You poke around some notes you'd observed after encounters with her, but all seem to linger on her shitty dialogue and passively erratic behaviour towards you. Damn your distracting emotions, how dare she insult your above-average intelligence like this by...by just existing, really. You hate her. 

The appearance of a petite chrome humanoid at the end of the hall momentarily distracts you. She wheels over and hands you the two rings she extracted from Gemini's fingers, and you survey them. They look like ordinary silver rings, but your mind jumps back to how easily Gemini gets underestimated. 

"I'll have to take a closer look at these. Calypsobot, return to guarding the patient but if her Gift shows signs of returning, do not touch her. Summon me at once should that happen."

You study the rings again as she wheels away with a response to your orders. Then you glance back at the screen, wiping it blank. 

A muffled beeping comes from the Lavender room, and you reenter to grab one of your disposable mobiles. Who the hell is calling you during the wee hours on a barely-Thursday morning? The name flashing on the screen makes you groan: "Luck8andit".

"I'll handle you later," you mutter, pressing on "Busy". You need some rest, for you have further devious scheming to do as soon as possible. 

\-----

Turning away from the breathtaking views of the cityscape, you heave one of your sickles into the bare wall out of temper. The skyline is tinged with the light of dawn, and you haven't gotten a trace of your best friend. 

If you looked to the east, you'd be able to spot a very energetic dot zipping over buildings, occasionally disappearing down into the streets. Heartfire had reported no leads, and while you can't see Akuma from here you know that he's scouring the Southside relentlessly. He would've contacted you if he'd discovered anything. 

So here you are, an angry leader with one less of her team, dressed in your usual streamlined version of a knight. Your silver-gray thin top flares out into a heavier, pleated skirt over dark gray tights and boots that reach halfway up your calves. While actual chainmail is too heavy for your shoulders in agile combat, you're still practical enough to have the latest defensive, temperature-sensitive, bulletproof tech as a leotard-type black undergarment beneath your costume. You had the material incorporated into each of the Team's outfits. 

And of course, there's the silvery-gray shawl over your short bob and simple gray mask covering the entire upper half of your face. 

Your shield is strapped to your back, you don't think you'll need it on such a rare, peaceful night. Except for the fucking fact that Gemini is missing, of course. 

Or went deliberately missing, which is honestly more likely. Somehow, it's not like the fickle girl to get kidnapped or anything like that; she's slippery and lowkey and you'd had too many scares in the past that just turned out to be her going off to do her own thing. Besides, Gemini's good at being powerful when people least expect it. 

It just pisses you off so much when she makes you worry. You know she didn't like the idea of a tracker in her comm, but how dare she disengage it! Doesn't she understand that you have no choice but to assume the worst? 

You wrack your mind, feeling like you overlooked something stupid. Your wrist communicater beeps once before Akuma's voice interrupts your brooding.

"Any news on Gemini?"

You watch as the sun takes its time with the rise, oblivious to the trepidation within your chest. 

"There's hardly any scent from her," you can almost hear Katt's pout, as the accompanying whoosh of air signals his flight. "I can't pick up a good trail. And I've been to all her usual places!"

"Me too," Akuma cuts in. "It's really weird, nobody has seen her. I don't like this."

You clench your fists, eyes turned downwards at the streets below. Something nags at you - something Sollux had said to you on Sunday, something you can barely remember. 

_"-heading out."_

_"Thanks for the announcement. Have you seen the fucking remote?"_

_"No, sorry-"_

_"Damn. Where is it? Is it...maybe..."_

_"You know, I've been going back to my roots, Knight."_

_"...Indian or Ken-"_

_"Not those roots, dumbass."_

_"Well then for the everloving fuck of all that is-"_

_"Shit, chill, I'm just going back to my nerdy kid pastime. Heh. Have you checked Heart's corner?"_

_You'd dived in said direction._

_"...Anyway, I'm citybound," and she shot finger guns at you, reminding you instantly of that asshole Gale._

_"Oh my god, just go, Gemini."_

_"See ya, loser!"_

"BloodKnight, come in- please tell me you have good news."

You tune back in to the sound of Akuma's voice, mouth stretched thin at the vague memory of shooing out Sollux from the Recreation Room. 

"Akuma. What was Gem's childhood pastime? Something she'd call nerdy?"

"Oh, I know! Games! She's kind of obsessed with beating the randos on the Internet-"

"No," Akuma interrupts Katt. "She only started gaming really late into her teens. You said childhood, didn't you, BloodKnight?"

"...Yeah." Sometimes you forget how close the two used to be. 

"She wouldn't call gaming nerdy, anyway, she makes a distinction between 'geeky' and 'nerdy'-"

"Sorry but what of the heck is the difference?"

"Yeah, Akuma, and what the fuck could she mean by nerdy pastime if it's not her gaming crap? And don't say coding, because I think it's something she hasn't done in a while."

The psychic sounds mildly exasperated as usual. "Check Urban Dictionary, Heartfire. BloodKnight, what I think she might mean by 'nerdy pastime' is her reading hobby, she wouldn't refer to coding as 'nerdy' because she thinks it's the coolest thing about her. She was a bookworm before the Internet sucked her in."

"Huh...," you reply absent-mindedly, your dark gray eyes darting to a street corner that you remember being occupied by a bookstore. But his next words set off the bells in your head. 

"Yeah, she even had a library card, she used to joke it was the only thing she willingly left her house for." 

Your gaze immediately snaps to an area of buildings closer to Katt's location.

"But what does-" 

You cut Akuma off. "Men, meet me at the City Library. I've got a feeling she could've been there."

"A feeling?"

You're already tugging at your sickle, the curved tip of which is unfortunately embedded quite deep in the wall. You really need to control your anger impulses. 

"Well-" you huff, putting more muscle into it. "A feeling, and-" It finally comes loose, and you stagger a couple of steps back before regaining your balance, turning to make a run towards the edge of this rooftop. 

"-and something she said Sunday."

You barely hear Katt's "oh?" and Akuma's curious grunt as you leap through the air and hook your sickle onto the stone edge of the next building- not bothering with your line propeller or anything else from your gadget belt- swinging forwards to land on another lower roof. 

"Library," you grunt into your wristband device. "Now."

"On the way."

"I will be there in five, guys!"

Landing on someone's fire escape this time, you use your sickles to lightly twirl your way downwards, finally landing onto tarred ground. A couple of kids kicking a can at each other in the alley stop to point excitedly at you.

"BloodKnight!"

"It's her, ohmygod-"

"Hey Miss BloodKnight, can I have a picture?"

The "Miss" is adorable but you're already running off. 

"Sorry kids, next time!" You yell over your shoulder, hotfooting it to the next street, where you'd parked your black and silver bike. 

Hooking your sickles into the same strap that holds your shield to your back and acts as your gadget belt, you glance around to make sure nothing is amiss. You start your engine and take off, hoping to at least beat Akuma to the steps of the library. Katt would get there first since he was in the general vicinity anyway. 

You pull up dramatically outside the small grassy bit that stretches to the Library entrance. Katt is already there, hovering over the fountain, but drops to the ground immediately when you jump off your bike. His protective black unitard with the heart-like symbol in the centre is barely-covered by an open, olive-coloured hunting-slash-trench coat and black sneakers. His gold locks cascade down from the usual squash under his blue cat helmet, the same hue as the flexible micro-plate armour over his sandy tail. 

"Hey! Should we go inside?"

You stride up to him, then look up at the skies. Sure enough, something black is streaking through the pastel morning, getting closer. 

"We'll wait for him on the steps." The two of you move forward and turn back on the top stair of the entrance. 

"Maybe she fell asleep inside and..uh, got lost?" Katt's gaze over the looming building was doubtful. You don't think he's ever been near this place, and you've certainly never gone inside before. 

"For three days? Even Gemini isn't that obtuse." You glare around. "God forbid it's a cover for an evil underground base, maybe we have a criminal librarian now."

Katt stifles a laugh as Akuma lands neatly between you two and the fountain, his billowing hooded cloak indigo in the sunlight instead of appearing it's usual faded black. His implementation of the protective black material is in the form of a biketard, much like his original outfit; a belt of dull gold circles inlaid with deep red gems rests on his hips, the same dark carmine hue as his combat boots and the skull-shaped clasp of his cloak. His communicator is not bound around his wrist, but on the back of the red amulet resting on his torso that hangs off a chain.

He slinks swiftly toward you, expression grim. You glance at the library doors, closed at this early hour of the day, then back at Akuma. He takes the hint and makes a shoving motion with his hands, blasting pitch psy-energy against the heavy wooden doors. They part inwards, bouncing off their hinges. 

"Oh my," Katt exclaims at the unusual approach, but you run inside regardless. You head straight to the administration desk and flip yourself over to the other side. 

You hardly notice the other two move to the marble staircase beyond the desk. For an official city library, this place was awfully archaic. Folders are stacked neatly in shelves under the marble desk, and there are two desktops at opposite ends. You sift through a pile of official-looking papers before proceeding to turn the computers on. 

"Hey, this place is purr-etty big!" 

"Yeah, and stuck in the 90s," you call back grumpily. 

Did people still use library cards? You honestly have no idea. The only library you'd ever set foot in was the one back in your high school a decade ago, and it was definitely against your will. 

"Look, Charm, they have a section on Wild Animals! A whole section-"

"Focus, Heartfire," you hear Akuma's hiss echoing from somewhere above you. You groan as the computer on the left asks for a password. This was Gemini's thing, damn it. Then again, weren't you always trying to convince her you could do this hacker stuff too? 

You cross your arms with a huff and lean back in the wheelie chair, glaring at everything around you. Maybe they had it written down somewhere? Probably not. Still, you sift through more documents, prod at the folders, and rifle through their stationary. 

"Password is NSCL241752."

You stare as Akuma floats down next to you, studying the cork board half-hidden behind the desk. He notices your incredulity and elaborates. "Nobody hangs one of these things so low."

He points at the bottom corner and you notice a scrap of paper pinned to it, barely visible, with the string of letters and the digits. You input this and the desktop appears, generic background image and all. You throw him an approving look. 

"Hey guys! Her scent is here- especially the Adult Fiction parts-"

"Figures," mutters Akuma, and you yell back at Katt. 

"Keep looking around! Maybe she left something behind."

The next minute is spent wondering how to access their online system. Thankfully, a bookmark tab visibly leads to their internal management system. 

"Hey, what did you find?" Katt calls from above, as you click on Sunday's visitor records. Ignoring him, you mutter "I thought libraries closed on weekends."

"They usually do close on Sundays," Akuma responds. "However, this one opens for about half a day, from mid morning to early evening."

"You a member or something?"

"No." He says and you almost detect a smile. "It's on the sign near the door."

"Oh, right." You stop dead suddenly, seeing something. There didn't seem to have been a lot of visitors on Sunday, and you point at the most obvious name.

"Oh... 'Gem S.C.', 4.51pm," Akuma reads aloud. You hear the disappointment in his voice. "She used her real initials, the idiot."

"Yeah, well, to be fair it's not like she has family traceable by those-"

"Hellooo? Guys?"

"Hold on, Katt," you call back, clicking for further details. The list of books she'd checked out didn't seem noteworthy, a book on chemistry, another two from the fictions, and an item listed as 'News Material' with a date and code. 

"That would have been from their-"

"National History Archives." Akuma surveys the glossy map pinned to the cork board. "It's at the back, second floor."

"You hear that, Heartfire?" You screech. "Head to the History Archives, and look up this item-"

You proceed to read out the identifying information of whatever Sollux had checked out apart from the books. 

"Got it," he hollers back, voice more distant. 

You turn back to the desktop, suddenly realizing that there's a shift in your mind about Sollux; you'd subconsciously assumed that she wasn't really in trouble, just acting out or doing her own thing for whatever reason. But now, in this ridiculously vast and deserted building among shelves and paper and dry unstirring air...you wonder if your usual paranoia about team safety had actually failed you. 

"I don't see what this has to do with anything." Akuma floats up and back over to the outside of the desk. "So she borrowed three books and a newspaper, big deal."

"But why the news material? What did she find here that our Digital Hermit couldn't find online?" 

He crosses his arms silently, but you know he's thinking about it. 

"It could lead us to where she's gone."

"Maybe," he concedes, then floats up to, you assume, join Katt. You, on the other hand, decide to do some further digging. Clicking on 'Gem S. C.' takes you to a basic profile page, barely filled out, but enough to tell you that she signed up two weeks ago, and borrowed one book each of the two consequent visits she paid. Both have been returned, one on modern weaponry and one on criminal psychology. 

Her third visit, on Sunday, seemed a clear break from the one-book pattern. 

You navigate out of her profile, not really getting anything more out of it. You do note that a flag states that her membership identification is lacking, and you wonder how she got the librarians to give her a membership anyway. 

You head back outside, certain that nothing more would prove useful in there (except the Archives where the boys are looking). Briskly covering the grounds, you circle the fountain twice, keeping an eye out for anything at all that could link back to Gemini. What were you idiots doing at a library if your friend might be in trouble, you berate yourself. Could someone really kidnap the supercharged bolt that was Sollux? 

The government wouldn't dare, each of you are registered Gifteds who are publicly admired, even if most of Heartfire's information was fabricated and even if the Roth family had been coerced into bending the truth about Akuma. If either of _them_ were missing, this would make more sense... 

"Knight!" 

You turn to see both men flying out to meet you, Katt landing right in front of you as the other stays airborne. 

"Well?"

"Look at this, it's not a newspaper, it's an exclusive issue for this magazine-"

"News publication, not in press anymore. That entire segment of the Archives focuses on stuff before everything went online, and has colour originals as well as grayscale copies. The grayscale for our code is gone, so that's probably what Gem took-"

"But we have the colour!" Katt brandishes it victoriously. "Listen to this, it's some features on Gifteds!"

You blink, but don't react further. 

"Okay, there's a bunch from different places, like The Dash, and even GameBoy, that 90s journalist dude she ended up marrying after he was exposed as a vigilante Gifted who saved her life? But the coolest one, front page feature-"

"It's Batgal." Akuma's deadpanned voice sends Katt into a hissy fit. 

"Come on! That's not fair, I was telling it-"

"You are taking too long! May I remind you that Gemini's whereabouts are still unknown-"

You hear them but you're not listening. The masked, hooded face on the front beneath Katt's fingers stares out at you and you stare back. Colour print really does bring out the bright orange of her eyes. 

Which she of course changed back to hazel every time she took her alter ego off, as you remember. Your heart sinks; none of your team knows you used to be Crow. Or one of the Crows, seeing as Batgal has a way of taking orphaned children under her damn wing. 

Why was Sollux borrowing this from the library? You don't think somehow that the other features would particularly interest her, especially since the remaining weren't even on heroic Gifteds (you see the names KittyHitter and The Penguin below The Dash's and GameBoy's. Somehow you don't think the two criminals gave an interview). 

But if Sollux had started figuring out who you were, then the feature on Batgal might certainly interest her... 

You grab it from Heartfire, nearly tearing it by mistake. Flipping through it, you scan the offending article. An interview, of course, a long one, divided into segments even: Who She Is, Why She Does It, Her Views on Justice; a few segments dedicated to her words on some of her greatest enemies: Poison Ivy, The Riddler, and of course The Jester. The Batgal you know would have scoffed at being interviewed for this sort of thing, not agreed to it. You notice this was the year right before you'd been taken on as unwilling apprentice. 

You feel faintly sick. 

"Knight? What's wrong?"

You look up suddenly, remembering the others. 

"Nothing. I'm just trying to understand why she checked this out."

Akuma, who'd landed beside Heartfire during their argument, regards you curiously, but then his gaze drops to the pages and you know his concern for your teammate overrode any doubt he has in your statement. Thank goodness for unresolved crushes. 

"Is there anything in there that would concern us in any way?"

"I do not know, but...this doesn't really help us find her now," Katt says forlornly, and you bite your lip. 

Akuma says nothing, eyes on the pages. 

"I thought this would give us a clue..." She couldn't possibly know who you are, right? She said she was fine with you wanting to keep your birthname to yourself... 

"Yeah, but, two of the books are old fiction, the other is sciencey stuff... Hey, maybe she went to T.I.T.A.N Labs?"

"I don't think so... She hates them, you know that. If there was some reason to go there, she would have told me," you pause, then look over at Akuma, still absorbed in reading. 

Katt sighs and looks at him too. "Come on, guys, this was a dead road."

"...Dead end, Katt. But yeah, I think it's time to alert the others, see if she contacted anyone-"

Akuma finally speaks, although he doesn't look up. "...You're right. I don't see why she-"

He cuts himself off and the two of you look at him. 

"What?"

He holds up the feature on Batgal, the pages dedicated to her thoughts on Notham's villains. You pale underneath your mask, but neither of them are looking at you. 

"What about it?" Heartfire scans the lines. 

"Look at the stuff about the Jester. Look at the part where she's talking about the psychopath's weapons, like Jester's old green handheld that sprays-"

"-a slime-like green substance, yes," Heartfire reads aloud. " _-She even has the awful liquid, which induces uncontrollable fits of manic laughter, baked into the pies she is known to throw into the faces of special targets. Besides this, sources indicate that The Jester is working on additional variations of this substance, with differing results. Should she succeed_ -"

By the time you'd been allowed out on the field, at the closing end of age 13, you never saw much of green slime; probably why you never made the connection before. Laughing Gas had become all the rage by the time you arrived on Notham's crime scene. And then things between Batgal and Jester had gotten onto a whole new plane of intensity. 

" _-sult in anything from a stronghold on a renewed drug empire or a new level in underground development of artillery-"_

"And she did."

The two guys turn toward you, one completely understanding, the other puzzled. 

"Huh?"

"Open your eyes, Heartfire, you just read it aloud," Akuma snaps. "A slime-like substance that was baked into _pies_. She was working on more crazy shit like that, and this was thirteen years ago! What do we know about a certain drug epidemic that grew around here the last seven years?"

Katt stares at him for a moment, green cat pupils visibly dilated. "...SlimePie."

"Bingo," Akuma breathes, not even sarcastic. There's a warmer tinge to his cheeks than usual. 

"Oh hell," you look around in horror. "If Gem figured this out. Does that mean-"

"That she went to Notham?" Akuma finishes for you quietly. "Or, more likely, that she paid our dear local Kurloz Makara a visit?"

The silence stretches between you for a few moments before Katt breaks it in disbelief. 

"Gemini would never do something like that, not without us. The logic is bad! I don't agree." His English always gets a little wonky the more upset he gets, but he makes sense. 

"He's right," you say thoughtfully. "Even if she did find a link between our local shitty drug ring and a source from The fucking Jester, it's not like she'd fly off herself to confront the clowns about it. It's not like her."

"We're not even supposed to chase the Makaras, the police asked us to leave it to them!"

You and Akuma both glance at each other, which Heartfire did not miss. 

"What?"

"Well..." You begin hesitantly. The youngest Starblood picks it up for you. 

"The authorities are probably bribed to turn a blind eye. Or blackmailed or whatever. They're not really doing anything about the Makaras. So obviously, we're going to have to, at some point."

Katt looks a little offended, and you readjust your shawl grouchily, hiding your sheepishness. "Well, I was trying to get Gamz on our side for more than the sake of ethics..."

"Nobody said anything to me!" Katt growls, and turns away sharply. 

"Look-" Akuma begins impatiently but you hurriedly cut him off, practically shouting. 

"It's not like that, Katt! It wasn't solid, not a plan or a team thing yet! Of course we were gonna talk about it soon, but right now Gemini seems to have stumbled across something and we have to find her. So let's refocus, alright?"

Akuma nods, and Katt turns back a little, arms still crossed. 

"If she wouldn't act on this information without us, where could she have gone after? Say she didn't decide to confront the Makaras." You pause, looking back at the orange eyes on the printed cover. "...If this was even why she visited the archives."

"I... I don't know," Akuma says, and you can see that he's bothered. 

"To see Gamzee, maybe?" Katt finally faces you both completely. The two of you stare at him. "I mean, she wouldn't do anything alone, but maybe she wanted more information. She's been talking more to Gamzee when she comes to see Charm at the tower."

You consider the undeniable truth in this. The number of times you had the drug overlord's sister over to the lower levels of your Tower (you have a strict policy regarding who you let into your home), Sollux had been hovering around. Unlike Akuma, who avoided the visits, and Katt who was always shadowing you worriedly, Sollux was actually chill enough that the always-high Gamzee seemed to perk up around her. 

"....yeah, okay, maybe," you admit. Even Akuma nods curtly.

Katt grins, forgetting to be angry. "But where would she meet Makara?"

You let out a surly "Starbucks?" and Akuma actually sniggers. 

"Hmm. Maybe she went to that McDee's near the border," Katt squints into the distance. "She said it felt cuter than the others, but I did not know what she meant..."

You pick up on his train of thought. That had been when she tagged along on your last stakeout with Katt of one of the drug warehouses. There was a McDee's nearby, on this side of the city, and it was designed a little differently than the usual glaring nightmare that came with awful unhealthy food. More importantly, Gamzee liked stoning around there. 

And that nearby warehouse was her sister's territory. 

"Good thinking, Katt. Let's hope she wasn't dumb enough to try anything at that Makara hotspot."

"I don't think so, but we should check the area! Come on, guys!" He's off, blue-plated tail whipping behind him. 

"Hey, I give the orders," you yell at Heartfire. "But yeah, let's do that."

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does the team seem like a family? I want that mild Teen Titans (cartoon) feel, although the dynamics won't be exactly the same. 
> 
> Anyway thanks for reading!! And thank you, your kudos and feedback are much appreciated!


	5. Recall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gemini wakes up again and experiences the demands of her screaming physical body. She also deals rather easily with the demands of The Scienceress. For a while. Just long enough to remember her little visit to the carnival.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway I'm gonna stop obsessing over whether any of this is remotely readable or whether it's cringeworthy. Just gonna post it up :)))
> 
> So, it's a little late but.. Anyone wanna guess which Titan Gemini is supposed to be? :D

By the time you drift back to consciousness, even the pains in your body take a back seat to a new problem: you are really really hungry. 

Cracking open an eyelid, you lick at your badly-chapped lips. The lights in this place are killing you, and the moment you see them you remember immediately where you are. 

You also recall the memories that came back to you before your little nap. 

Growling, you start thrashing on the weird platform you are restrained to. You're angry, you're traumatised, you're sore and recovering from a near-death experience. You want a goddamn mega bottle of water and two whole boxes of donuts. 

You're sure even your migraine is hunger-induced this time. 

"Adrenaline spiking, chemical balances shifting into red zone. Subject is advised to contain display of erratic behaviour."

You still, remembering what Scienceress told you about her lab assistant. 

"Hey!" Your voice is really hoarse and god your throat is so dry. "Uh-"

Shit. What was her name again? 

"Um...... Cecile?"

Silence. 

"C-Celine? Oh fuck. Samantha? No, it wasn't.. Hold on, was it Lisa? God no, that's too normal. It was something grand and stupid, wasn't it?"

You have a feeling that the machine is recording every move you make, and you sigh. 

"I- look, where's Scienceress? Can I uh, if anyone's listening to me, can I talk to Scienceress?"

A beat and then-

"State reason for direct communication with The Scienceress. Any immediate need may be relayed to the system via speech, including requests for medical aid. The mistress is to be called upon only for urgent matters. Do you still wish to communicate with The Scienceress?"

You take a moment to let all that sink in, unsure if you want to gag or crack the fuck up at the term "mistress".

"You know what, I'll do anything not to talk to that pompous jerk anyway. What's your name? I'm guessing it's not 'the system', right?"

"I am the system. I am referred to as Calypso. Request to communicate directly with The Scienceress deleted."

"Uh. Yeah... Calypso, heh, I knew it was something-" you cut off then, in case Calypso gets offended. You find that most AI learn to simulate human emotion particularly well, bringing into question whether or not they are eventually considered emotionally-sentient. After all, human emotions were mere chemicals. 

"So, like, Apocalypso? Nice. Typical of Scienceress, but I guess not as bad as it could be?" Your stomach grumbles and you feel nauseated. Okay, you're officially hangry, you, the one who constantly has to be reminded to eat like a normal person. 

"Negative, the origin of the name Cal-"

"No offence, Calypso, but I don't care right now. Sorry but I'm uh, really thirsty. And, and hungry."

"Duly noted, patient is to be given any necessary nutrition and medical service required." You perk up at this. "Calypsobot will be arriving in ten minutes with the appropriate sustenance."

Appropriate sustenance? 

"Can I have donuts? Or a tuna sandwich?"

You felt like donuts or a tuna sandwich would cheer you up. 

"Specify donut type."

"Normal sugar... Oh, and chocolate if you got em..."

"Duly noted. Specify contents of tuna sandwich, apart from tuna paste."

"I don't know... Like a couple slices of cucumber?"

"Duly noted. Calypsobot will be arriving in fifteen minutes with the proper sustenance."

"...Great. Thanks, Calypso."

You hear a smooth whirr but no response comes. Taking the opportunity to try and examine your damage this time, you crane your neck to look down at yourself.

Yeah, you're almost naked, which is seriously messed up. You hate this, you hate not having clothes on. Scienceress saw you like this? You want to die. Or kill her. Preferably both. 

Trying to move beyond that, you squint at the bandaging around your midriff. You remember now what happened, though the memory is still too daunting to run through again. Why oh why did you leave Starblood Tower without your protective tank top? At least you had worn your tights, so BloodKnight would scream at you a little less (or maybe not, now that Scienceress removed them). It seems like Scienceress took care of it, however, and you blink for a while at your bare feet. Something seems off; you shift uncomfortably and figure it out at once, gaze darting to what you can see of your hips. 

She's put freaking diapers on you! Oh you're definitely killing her now. You'd honestly rather have pissed your panties. (Not really.)

This takes a whole five minutes of screeching swear words and banging your fists onto metal (that didn't last as you're too weak) before you subside into grumbling under your breath. 

You're just noticing that your cheek isn't throbbing like it was when you were last awake, when a muted sound grabs your attention and you listen as it gets louder. You're about to scream when something obviously enters the room, but then you see what is probably Calypsobot with a tray of food.

"Yes! Oh god yes-"

She comes over to you, and you instinctively know that she's moving on wheels or something like that. The tray is a floral plastic thing with two plates of tuna sandwiches on it, and an open box of sugar and chocolate donuts. You watch as Calypsobot takes the jug of water and sets it down on one of the nearby tables, before placing the whole tray down on another. 

You groan, trying to lean towards the food. The bot moves somewhere beyond your head as the system's voice rings out again.

"Subject's position to be readjusted. Patient is advised not to move."

Then you feel a section of the table you're on moving upwards, so that your upper body is raised enough to be able to eat. 

"Nice," you croak, eyeing the food even as your surroundings swim about slightly. One of your wrist shackles slides open with a click, and you've got one hand free now. Calypsobot returns to assist you, offering the tray. You lethargically grab a donut and practically inhale it. 

"Patient is advised to take prec-"

You're coughing, your throat burning. You'd bitten off more than you can swallow, and you don't have the lubrication to solve the problem. You barely notice through your forming tears as Calypsobot quickly pours a cup of water and offers it to you. 

"Patient is advised to drink-"

You grab it and down the liquid, holding it back out for more. "Water- please-"

"I see that someone's feeling better."

You start slightly as Calypsobot takes the cup for a refill, and Scienceress appears at the doorway behind her. You hadn't heard her coming, probably because you were too busy choking. From your new position, you can see much more of the room, including a massive screen (it's displaying the room recorded in real time), cabinets at the far wall, and the entrance behind Calypsobot.

And Scienceress. 

"About time you ate," she states lazily, crossing her arms and leaning against the metal doorframe. You notice that she's fully decked out as usual, even with the cape. Does she just live in that outfit? "I was considering a feeding tube."

You don't answer her right away, because you just noticed something that's been bugging you about her since you first awoke here. You can _see_ her, completely and clearly, without distortions over her face or blurring around her edges or soft white light where there should be none. She's stopped hiding her face, and you wonder urgently at whether or not that bodes badly for you. 

She's disturbingly attractive, not in that common conventional way, but well in her own manner. A bit on the pale side, yes, but you can see the spattering of freckles from here and it suits her. She's got a strong jaw but her cheeks aren't hollow, and she has angles but they're not too angular. Her eyebrows are raised and it just fits her snooty manner so well, you're almost impressed. As a connoisseur of faces, you'd say hers is definitely... interesting. 

Of course, you'd seen her in press photos in the news before, but somehow you'd never quite totally put that image onto The Scienceress. Her civilian pictures had looked like just another bland rich person in makeup; now you look at her and you dare say she's beautiful. 

You clear your throat, hoping you don't break out into coughing again. 

"Where are my clothes?"

You regret it as her gaze flits below your face, roving down your chubby, less-than-ideal body. "Your tights, interesting material by the way, are being cleaned. I'm assuming they're the reason your legs are the least damaged limbs you have right now."

"My... My jacket?"

She grimaces. "We have it, although it's pretty much in shreds."

You sigh and down more water as she moves towards the screen idly. Your body does tense up in her presence, but the ability to not keep stuffing your face is slowly leaving you. 

"You weren't wearing shoes or socks so we don't have those. The same goes for your glasses."

You nod, munching sandwich sombrely. You know who removed your goggles, and you vaguely remember having your mismatched high-tops being dragged off too, although you don't remember losing your socks. 

A silence stretches out awkwardly between you as you finish the sandwich. Instead of reaching for another, you look up at her. 

"Not that I'm complaining, but...why are you being nice to me?"

You think her face is going pink, but you can't be sure from here. 

"What the hell do you mean, 'nice'?"

You frown. "I mean... You got the poison out, right? And uh, you've been allowing me to heal, and Calypso got me donuts and sandwiches."

"Yeah, so?"

"I mean," you're frustrated but you also know you should handle this delicately if you didn't want her wand to make an appearance. "You hate me, want to spill my blood and all that. If you'd just shipped me off to the Tower I'd have considered it charitable...but all this? Why save me?"

So much for delicacy. Perhaps "save" was the wrong choice of word. 

"Well why the fuck did you faint on my front porch?" She's rigid and angry, and her boots make an unnecessarily loud noise as she approaches you. "Why did you come to me at all?"

You look away from her. That part was still foggy, but you did kind of have bits and pieces from your escape and arrival here. Waiting to be puzzled back together, if you'd stop evading them. 

"Well?"

"Uh," you mumble, face burning. You can actually guess why you'd turned up here like the idiot you are, but god you wish you weren't so predictable...even in your dying state. You hear her boots again as she stomps closer, and Calypsobot moves aside. "Well."

"What was that?" 

Her hand enters your vision and before you can utilize yours, she's gripped your chin and forced you to look up at her. 

You suddenly feel the expression she's looking at on your face: guilty, unsure. You quickly turn it into a scowl. 

"I don't know! I wasn't thinking properly! I mean, I was dying wasn't I?"

She snarls. "Don't be coy, why didn't you just call for your team?"

You bristle. "I didn't have my communicator, alright?"

"So you came to me, through all my security defenses, someone who might've finished you off...because you lost your communicator."

You make an angry sound in your throat and finally bat her hand away from your chin. She glares and hovers over you threateningly. 

"Tell me the truth, Starblood. You should have gone to anyone else, but you turned up here. Why, and how?"

You feel like trying out your psionics again, since she's given you a new headache anyway. You close your eyes in an effort to control yourself. 

"I don't know, I guess I just... I couldn't go to the base after what happened."

She waits, and you can feel her impatience. You breathe in deeply, suddenly tired. How much should you even tell her? You already feel depressingly indebted to her for everything she decided to do for you, but she's still a criminal. 

"And?"

"Oh my god... Why don't you just blast me to death now and get this over with..."

"You're not going anywhere until I get some answers. What happened to you, and why couldn't you go to your team?"

You squeeze your eyelids tighter, moving your free hand to cover your stomach.

"...I ran into Gamzee."

"What?"

Half your mind is screaming at you to shut up; you're a Starblood, she's The Scienceress. But one stubborn voice yells back that The Scienceress...saved your life. She could've done anything to your dying ass - tortured you, maimed you, cut your head open and messed around. Or just let you die. But she did the exact opposite, and it might be the fact that you're still a little out of it, but she's seemed to do some extra that she didn't have to, if her plan just involved keeping you alive.

Then again, this might all just be an elaborate psychological trick to get you to cooperate with whatever she's scheming. You feel a sinking in your chest; that's probably it, or some reason like that. Still...you clearly aren't going anywhere yet though you need to see BloodKnight. And you think talking through what happened might actually make it less awful to remember... and a lot easier for Scienceress to let you go the moment that you're physically able to. 

"-you mean Makara's sister right?"

God, your head hurts. You decide to keep talking. 

"Yeah. I, I went over to one of the places that we know operates for the Makaras. I just wanted to, I don't know, check it out. Heart's the one who sniffs them out, but I thought I could take a look by myself, then jet back to the Tower."

"...Okay..."

"She found me." You open your eyes. "I was sneaking off after seeing a transaction and she just, she pulled up in her car. She asked me if I wanted to get dinner, said she was happy to see me in the area."

Scienceress's hand curls into a hard fist next to you. You pause, distracted by it. 

"You got in her car."

"Rookie mistake," you whisper. "Thought she was an ally. She's always been so...nice. So confused and chill and just, just fucking _high_."

"...yes."

"But she wasn't." Your tone drops to urgent and regretful. "She wasn't high this time, and I knew because she was so clear, so... Sharp, but still pleasant. She got us food and we ate outside the drive-thru and... I trusted her." 

You stop and Calypsobot appears on your other side with another cup of water. You grab it and drink because your throat is the Sahara. 

"What do you mean, you trusted her? She's the sister of Makara. Obviously she was gonna hand you over if her sister asked her to."

You shudder as you hand the cup back. Scienceress still didn't understand. You feel like you should shut up, be more cautious, but now that you started talking you can't seem to stop. 

"She was Knight's friend. You don't know how much she's invested in getting Gamzee on our side... She even comes over to the Tower's visitor level. She agreed to start working with Knight to take down her sister."

Scienceress looks taken aback. "...I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. She always was completely out of it whenever I saw her, and she doesn't really care about the family business."

You shake your head quickly, stopping when the headache spikes. 

"She's not who I thought she was at all. I was stupid, I was so stupid."

"Hey, stop that-"

She closes her fingers around the wrist of the free hand you have pulling at your hair. Your teeth are grit, and you really don't want to cry again even if it's from frustration this time. 

"Listen, they can't touch you here. I promise." Her voice is surprisingly gentle and sincere. "But I need to know what Makara did, what she might be planning since you escaped."

"I," you stammer, releasing your hair and letting her guide your wrist away. "I, I asked her if, if her sister ever made trips to Notham. Or got special visits from Notham..."

She looks curious but doesn't interrupt. 

"God, I was such an idiot. She really changed then, seemed sort of... weird. Said Kurloz didn't really have anything to do with Notham, but she needed to show me something if I could stay longer. I agreed."

"..."

"She must've drugged my drink at some point because all I remember is her speeding around. When I woke up, she had me tied up at her place-"

"Makara House?"

"Yes, she pretty much told me. She-"

"Gamzee?"

"Yes, Gamzee. It was all her, all of it, I've never seen her like that before. She was pissed that I was asking questions, she, she-"

"Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me that _Gamzee_ did this to you?" She waves at your body, lenses flashing. 

"Yes!" You breathe heavily, staring back. You're still slightly dizzy. "She fucking put Faith into me, she told me, while I was out. I didn't believe her, I didn't believe any of it was happening."

"I... holy hell." You can see the disbelief in her face as well, but the broken pieces are coming together in your mind clearer than ever. 

"I tried to laugh it off, I didn't really take her seriously. Then she took a knife to me."

"Fucking hell. Gamzee??"

"...Yeah," you say tiredly. "Of course, I woke up then, smelled the fucking crazy. I was bleeding, and it was one cut but it wouldn't stop. She kept asking me how much I knew...kept talking about some religious crap. How she would save us all by the 'cleansing grace of destruction'."

Scienceress turns suddenly towards the screen. "Calypso, I want you to pull every file and article on the Makara family, especially Gamzee. Have it ready for me later."

"Duly noted."

She turns back to you grimly. You startle at the brush of her fingers down your arm, settling at the inside of your elbow. It makes you feel strangely nervous. "Continue."

"Um." The rare, unexpected comfort in her touch somehow triggers a memory of the way Gamzee drew her pointer finger purposefully along your skin, as if tracing something inside you. 

"She was going to torture me," you laugh humourlessly at the memory of the youngest Makara pulling your hair back and murmuring death into your ear. You don't remember her exact sentences, but certain words come to you among the flickering shadows in the back of your mind. "She said she was going to give me the antidote and drug me again if I pissed her off, wreck my immune system. When she got a call and left the room, I thought I was the luckiest person in the world."

You stop, licking your lips. You probably shouldn't tell her, but what the hell, you've come this far. 

"Akuma once told us that he sensed specific energies from the Makara house whenever we flew over. He told Knight that he thought there was a portal in there, a functioning space one."

Scienceress is unmoving, and you almost touch her hand to confirm she hasn't turned to stone. Almost. 

"...It was my only chance. Gamzee's so strong there was no way I'd survive two minutes without my blasts or my shielding. I...haven't used bilocation in so long and I was too drained to try."

You glance at her, unsure about mentioning your actual Gift, but everyone knows what you used to do. Even if she hasn't seen it, she probably knows why your name is Gemini. 

"You went for the portal," she says, quietly. You study her face, trying to figure out what she's thinking. 

"I didn't actually know whether it was real. But I trust Akuma's instincts, and it was my only chance. She'd taken my goggles, my comm, everything."

"What happened then?"

You hesitate, reliving the scrambled panic and dismal feeling of approaching death. You take a deep breath and exhale. "I used my psionics to grab her knife from the table. They kept fizzing out and dropping it but I got it, and I kept going at the ropes til they broke. She was still away. So, I, I fucking ran outta there, and I saw-"

"The portal?" Eridan asks eagerly. 

"A door that was different from the rest. I saw that I was in a cellar, no windows... there was a stair leading up, there were doors- a huge metallic one at the other end. I thought if there was really a portal in that place, that's where it would be."

Scienceress just nods, with a soft squeeze on your arm. 

"It had a sensor lock, so I messed with the tech." You grin a little vengefully. "When I got inside, I saw it. There was a huge fucking nightmare in there, a kind of swirling thing in the air, but like...unreal, like all these normal colours mixed up and stretched out til they were something else. It was contained within this, this sort of stone frame. Looked kinda old and... rustic? Even the tech connected to it felt all weird and...not techy. I knew it must've been that..."

"How did you operate it?"

"Honestly? I didn't. I just went closer cuz I started feeling funny, really sick, especially since my powers were going. Gamzee said she'd inject an antidote but she hadn't done it yet. And this was my only chance. So I thought of where I wanted to go and flung myself into the fucking portal."

"You imbecile! You could have died! What if it had been untethered?" Scienceress finally removes her hand, and the tension you didn't realize had built up dissipates, leaving it limp. 

"...No idea what that means, also don't care. Do you think I had the time to worry if death by portal would be better than GZ killing me?"

She rubs her temples, eyes closed in consternation. "Ugh. Fine. But...why did you come here? I guess if you used a fuckin' portal that would explain how you got past everything without tripping off any alarms. But why here?"

A few seconds tick away. You close your eyes, remembering how scared and scattered you had felt, and what had suddenly seemed important to you. You choose your words carefully. 

"I guess I was too panicked to go to the Tower. There was a chance Gamzee would've followed me there and offed me while I was passed out, or attacked the others. Even if she didn't, Knight was going to be so pissed off, and Akuma... He's powerful, but after what I saw...."

"Then why not your other hero friends?"

"I dunno, Ampora," you say tiredly. She stiffens at the use of her real name. "I guess I just wasn't thinking straight. I wasn't sure it would work, and...I guess I just, uh, remembered you."

"So you ended up here for no real reason...except to throw Gamzee off the scent," she mutters. It makes you uncomfortable. 

"Uhm... When I hit the portal, I guess...what happened was... I, err, remembered your real identity and where you live... And I just, I wanted-"

_I wanted to see you before dropping dead. I thought maybe you might've handed me off to my team because even though you hate me, I felt like you'd have done that. Mostly because I was drugged out of my mind. Partly because I...feel like you aren't all bad..._

Of course, the moment you'd been successfully transported to Ampora's front door, you'd been frozen in place with a lot of emotions, beginning with regret. Though you hadn't had the clear mental faculties at the time to understand why. 

"What?"

"Nah, that's all, I don't remember anything else," you say hastily, reaching for a donut. You're still hungry, damn it. 

She clearly doesn't believe you, but surprisingly doesn't push the subject anymore. Instead, she grabs a cup of water for herself and chugs it down. 

You finish your donut in peace, exhausted from having relived your misadventure. The flickering nightmares in your head seem fainter, maybe because of the stupid blinding light in this room.

"Who punched you in the face?"

You blink at her mildly amused smirk, reaching for another sandwich. "She did. Because I wouldn't answer her questions about how much I knew."

The smile drops off as you speak and she looks grim. "And what exactly did she mean by that, anyway? Why were you asking questions about Notham?"

You glance at her cautiously. You sometimes tend to think that all criminals knew each other's business, but that was silly. 

"...I can't tell you that."

Her expression changes to severely displeased, and you fidget with the remainder of your sandwich. 

"A poor repayment for my hospitality," she hisses, making you flinch slightly. 

"I told you what happened to me, didn't I? Poured my heart and soul out like you were my psychiatrist or something. Can't I get a break?"

"No, actually," she snaps at you. "You're under my roof and my protection so you'll fuckin' comply with my wishes."

"...I'm not a fucking child, Scienceress. It's not like I meant to intrude-"

"And yet! I would think a precious Starblood knows better than to land in a torture room! Then run to another enemy's doorway, intentionally, no less-"

You swear you feel the buzz of electricity under your skin, but your psionics don't spark. You curl your free hand into a fist and bang it on the table. 

"I get it, alright," you yell. "I shouldn't have fucking turned up and- I know I shouldn't have come here! I'm- I'm sorry, okay?"

You mumble the last part through grit teeth, unused to apologizing to a villain. Strangely, Scienceress doesn't continue to gripe or goad you. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out at first, and she seems to be avoiding your eyes. "I- that's, that's not what-"

"I don't really know why I'm here anyway," you mutter the lie in a temper. "Like I said, I wasn't thinking straight. Just show me to the door and I'll be on my merry fucking way-"

"You sack of rubbish." Her face comes within inches of yours, snapping back to her usual self in an instant. "I suppose you didn't consider what this means for me? No, of course not. And now you throw tantrums when you should be kissing my boots in gratitude."

You glare at her. "Bite me, Scienceress."

The two of you stare each other down for a moment, and it figures you can't hold a decent conversation for two minutes with this maniac. But there's not much you _can_ do since you're in this position. You exhale quietly, breaking eye contact, and she draws back to whip around and address her system. "Calypso, resecure the parameters. And get Tritan on call, to receive in the Library."

The storm on your face clears slightly at the name she utters. Thankfully, she doesn't notice; she's too busy pacing around now, clearly thinking. 

Seeing her so riled up again jolts you back to your senses. She may have saved you, but you've said too much. All that Faith Slime shit must've given you some sort of brain damage. 

You should leave soon, especially since your team had no idea where you are and Knight needed to be updated as soon as possible. You've wasted enough time as it is, and they might all be in danger already. God, why are you so stupid. You're supposed to be clever, but you guess not. 

If Scienceress is going to tell Tritan anything, you hope she relays the important points of your situation; your fishy little double agent could at least get to BloodKnight first for you. But you can't place all your bets on what Ampora tells FF. 

"Uh. So uhm, Scienceress, I think I can catch a cab to Starblood Tower, and be outta your hair... If you could maybe, undo these-"

"You are extremely weak and still under observation," Scienceress turns to you sternly, before moving to the door. "Your powers aren't back and your body is healing. You're not going anywhere for a while."

You open your mouth, but she holds up a hand. "That is non-negotiable."

You gape at her as she takes her leave, disappearing from sight. Well, she made it sound like she did intend to kick you out upon your recovery, but you still have doubts. 

Trying to summon your psionics, you focus on the restraint shackling your other wrist. Suddenly, you notice that you don't have your rings; damn it, did Gamzee remove those too? You don't remember that.

Nothing happens except that your headache pounds harder. You slump back in disappointment. 

A mechanical hand offers you a cup. 

"More water?"

\---

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this, thanks for clicking in!


	6. Bull vs Cat & Raven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our favourite nightly vigilante and protector of beasts faces an unexpected encounter with her pet peeves during the daytime. What happens when she looks into the eyes of her chasers, unmasked? 
> 
> A.K.A Tavros is quickly becoming half the focus of this fic aaaaa

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this chapter ages ago but wasn't sure if I should post. I lost my interest in this fic because I lost interest in Erisol but as always it returned like a bad penny. (Oh, and homestuck's Epilogue came out, that too.)
> 
> I have two more chapters already written, but I'm not gonna post up just yet because I want to be sure I won't regret it all later....

You absent-mindedly stir your vegan cafe au lait, watching as vehicles pass the quaint little eatery you're sitting inside. You love this place, there aren't enough establishments like it: completely focused on catering to both vegans and vegetarians, and adorable to boot. 

Still, even the familiar ambience of low murmurs and clacking cutlery doesn't distract you from that unsettling feeling within you. You stare out the glass window unseeingly. It's been a day since you ran away from that animal-testing drug warehouse on the other side of New Sburb, and you can't stop thinking about the person you saw. 

Worse, you can't help but feel like you could still mentally touch their consciousness. It's strange and impossible; you only commune with animals, not humans. Yet, there lingers a sort of link between you, or the ghost of one, and you almost want to reach out and grasp at it. 

What really terrifies you, however, is that she might be able to do just that. Can she feel what you're picking up on right now? Is she aware of this weird wispy connection? After all, she was the one who made contact with _you_ , not the other way around. 

You've never been more thrown off course in your short vigilante career. 

You take a sip, closing your eyes and desperately trying to let the calm of your surroundings wash over you. The tinkling of the door's overhead bell announces the arrival of another patron, and you don't notice immediately when a hush runs through the usual chatter. 

Opening your eyes, you blink at the customers at tables before you, all gaping at something behind you. Turning to look, you feel your heart begin to thud faster as renewed whispering fills the room. 

A familiar-looking figure in hunter green, topped by a ridiculous blue hat, stands before the counter. From what you can see of the side of his face, unnatural green cat eyes are trained on the chalkboard menus stuck to the wall.

Your foot presses against the side of your messenger bag slowly, reassuring yourself. Your costume- the Peter Pan outfit today- was inside, along with your weapons and a few stalks of your favourite roses. The flowers had become sort of like your signature, so even if you weren't wearing a Tuxedo Mask outfit you still utilized them. People recognized you that way; reports of the damage in headlines cited you sarcastically as 'Petal Pan' and 'Flower Power' until you'd finally spray-signed your chosen alias on a few of the ruined sites- _xoxo, Rosepetal_.

Speaking of which, there's a newly-opened cosmetics store along this street that you'd been planning to visit, a fledgling brand under the same awful company that is embroiled in accusations of animal testing and torture. Had the Starbloods caught on to your plan somehow? 

You don't see how they could have. They didn't know who you are, right? You're very painstakingly careful when you plan these things, especially since they're tech-savvy city darlings with connections to law enforcement. While you're a twenty-year-old who boards with her veterinarian boss and dresses up in cosplay to make grand statements about important, practical causes that are often overlooked because nobody gives a shit about other living creatures. 

Anyway, you wonder if you can summon the city hounds and set them on him before he notices. 

A few high-pitched giggles make you peer out the side of your eye, turning as subtly as possible to watch the counter. All the staff, including the grumpy cashier girl, the older lady who ran the place and even the male waiter, were listening intently to Heartfire. You scowl; a few other diners had crowded around him as well. 

"-thank you, I will remember that," you hear him say, surprisingly pleasant when he's not growling in anger. "Please tell me if you see my friend, but don't spread around that she's missing, not yet. You know what our official Tracebook is, yes?"

A frown flits across your face, and you face them a little less discreetly. His friend? Which friend? A Starblood? 

Wait, why should you care? You have work to do tonight, and this stupid cat-man is going to ruin it if he sticks around. You sigh, gathering your things and abandoning your coffee. You'll just have to keep an eye on him after he leaves the place, see if any of the others are hanging around before you do anything. You don't want to get stopped midway, or worse, caught. 

Hiking your bag strap further up your shoulder, you make a beeline for the exit, missing the cheerful goodbye that the owner usually reserves for you. She's too busy fawning over Heartfire. 

There's undeniably a lot of resentment that you harbour towards the Starbloods, and you decide to examine this now as you walk away, swinging your bag haphazardly to keep other people out of your way. Mostly because your mind is aware once more of the weird urge to reconnect with the person you saw at the torture warehouse. But anyway! 

You just disliked how popular the Starbloods are among people this side of the country, despite the general mixed feeling towards Gifteds. Your boss has a small poster of them in the office, because she 'believes in supporting those who support the safety of the public'. It made you want to kick something. What about supporting the safety and rights to existence of those that cannot fight for themselves against human beings? 

Sure, you do think that BloodKnight is kind of interesting, especially how she doesn't seem to be much of a Gifted. Actually, before ever engaging in a scrum with them during your escapes, you'd thought she was cool. And Heartfire is of course a very cute guy, and Akuma dangerously mysterious. They're almost like popstars, the way youngsters worship them. 

Your mind turns to the electric girl with the duality fetish and puns. Okay, that one seems more normal than hero; she even wears sneakers and the same hoodie all the time, or similar ones, instead of an actual superhero costume. Also she's the least motivated to bother you when you're fleeing a scene, hovering around on her phone and making bad jokes. 

Still, it's really annoying that these so-called heroes get all the glory without actually digging deeper into the crimes of humanity like evil corporations and the vile drug epidemic and-

"-ey! Hey, wait-"

You stop dead in your tracks as a figure flies into your view and drops down in front of you. You feel the blood drain out of your face, and your grip tightens on your messenger bag. 

You're...not wearing a mask... 

"Sorry, I did not mean to scare you," he grins and he's even more handsome up close. When he's not frowning in disapproval or snarling while dodging your little homemade bombs, that is. 

You stare at him in horror. He's looking at your _face_ , up close, no mask. 

"I tried calling but you did not hear," he shrugs with one shoulder and slurps something through the straw in his takeaway cup. Your gaze drops down to it and you suddenly wonder what he'd ordered from _your_ favourite place. Why did he follow you? 

He can't know who you are. Oh goddess, did they know who you are? 

"Uh-uh-" Darn your stuttering. Why couldn't you ever be nervous without betraying it? Especially since you're almost always nervous... And now? You're downright frozen. "Uh, w-what-"

"You left this in the restaurant," he says seriously, lifting his other hand. It's your mobile phone, with the glittering rose stickers on the back and everything. "I saw it on your table."

You don't have a screenlock enabled on your phone. All your details could be visible to him in one swipe and...you're about to start hyperventilating... 

"O-oh thanks," you mumble, reaching out to grab it and knocking into his hand instead. You are ready to scream.

"Hey kid, relax," he laughs lightly, and unfortunately seems to actually look at you more attentively. "It's no problem-"

"Uhm... Thanks..." You should get out of there right now, immediately, but you're too focused on his catlike stare to grab the damn phone. 

His eyes dart down your sweater and flared skirt, and you see the exact moment they lock onto something that makes him tilt his head. "...Your flowers are dropping. Are those roses? I like roses!"

You snap your head down in a panic, and notice that the roses are indeed escaping the side of your bag, where one of the two buckles had come undone and the flap was partially open. You must have jostled it around too much; one scarlet bud has been nearly decapitated, hanging over the end of the open zipper forlornly. 

"Oh," you squeak intelligently, grappling with the strap to hide your bag behind you. "I, I have to, uh, go-"

You turn abruptly and start absconding in the opposite direction from where you were heading in the first place, away from him, too panicked to play it cool. He was too close, too close-

"Wait! Your phone?"

You swing back around and the next thing you know your bag catches him in the midriff, making him bend over slightly with an "oof". You stumble back in terror at how you'd misjudged the distance, and your knees knock into something behind you that sends you falling sideways. 

The resulting series of events happen like a bad dream: Heartfire, barely needing to recover from getting gutted by your bag, drops his drink and darts forward to catch you, your bag falls onto the ground, and the remaining buckle does not stop half the contents from sliding out onto the pavement. 

All your roses are scattered about, and your cans of reddish-brown spraypaint roll out. Peeking out now is the forest green of your Peter Pan shirt, with the belt of tiny bombs just visible, and a brown mask on top of the whole mess. 

"Oh no... I am so sorry," he hasn't noticed, but you're reeling and yet unable to act while you're partly in his hold. "Are you okay?"

You look up at him, and the cold dread in your heart must show on your face because his look of concern deepens, and he lets go of you at once. "Don't worry, I will help with your things-"

"No!"

He looks away from the stuff on the pavement to stare at you in confusion, but then does a double take. The mask, he's looking at the mask. Brown, with pink embroidered roses, unlike the Tuxedo one which was black with red roses, but still undoubtedly recognizable to a Starblood. 

Realization slowly dawns on his face like a gathering storm. 

"......"

You aren't going to be brought in by a Starblood, no way, especially not when you weren't even on the job. You put your fingers to your lips and emit a shrill whistle, backing away from the blond hero. 

He looks back up at you, but not before the answering barks from different directions begin to fill the evening air. 

He's searching your face. 

"Are- you're-"

You turn and make a run for it. 

"Wait!"

Damn it, he can fly, but it's fine because you've escaped him so many times before-

With your bombs. And your tranquilizer darts. And a getaway planned out. And your city companions. Under cover of night. In a mask and costume. 

Most of which are now on the sidewalk. Well, you can at least call on your companions. 

"Hey!" A growling snarl cuts through the air and you hear Heartfire cry out not far behind you. You glance quickly behind as you hotfoot it past confused bystanders, and see that he's taken off just out of reach of a couple of stray city dogs that leap to snap at his hovering feet. 

He looks back up at you and you refocus on running the fuck away. 

"Rosepetal!"

The indignant accusation in his shout sets the adrenaline pumping through you and you reach out to your winged friends in a desperate plea. You cut across the street despite angry honking and screech to a halt as a telltale _shing_ cuts through the air, the green sunbolts vanishing without a trace as they hit the storefront right beside you. 

So he's not aiming to maim, which is good, but still. 

"Graarghh-" The vengeful cawing stops you right before you dive into an alley, and you turn to see Heartfire being swarmed by the black birds. Below him, dogs still crowd angrily. You see his eyes glow bright sunny-green and you send an alarmed warning to them to be careful, right before he starts shooting angry beams out of his weird eyes. 

You've been found out. It finally sinks in, and you straighten up, pushing aside your overwhelming emotions to focus on what you need to do. Step by step. First, get away.

So you turn and run deeper into the alley, but the light seems to drain out of your surroundings and before you understand it, you've stumbled to a halt in an unnervingly quiet darkness. 

"That's not very nice, is it?" You hear him and go cold, nearly shaking from stress at this point. He was always the worst, it was always him that nearly catches you each time and you'd suspected he wasn't even really trying before. 

Now you're sure. 

"What you did to Heartfire."

"Stop! W-what-" You turn around blindly, and even though you know your feline friends are heading towards you somewhere beyond this gloom, you feel trapped. 

"We just want to talk. I promise. You don't really want to hurt people, right?" Where is the bastard? 

"These pretty birds aren't going to harm me," he states calmly and you whirl around and see him. Akuma steps out of the darkness, drawing it back into him, and the alley comes back into existence around you. Cawing of crows surround you, but it's hesitant, and you can tell by their sharp, near-human emotions that they do not want to attack Akuma. But you already knew this, he had some sort of strange effect on crows, which was why in his case you usually summoned-

"Ugh!" An angry kitty pounces on him from a fire escape, clawing at his arm but not tearing that black sleeve. More angry meowing and hissing comes from the other end and the roofs. No matter if his costume was resilient, cats were ferocious and even more resilient-

The _shings_ don't reach your hearing in time, and you're rudely assaulted by the sting of heat in your back. You fall forwards, and in your dismay realize that you'd gotten distracted. The sounds of Heartfire fighting and hissing at the crows still circling him finally registers and you turn to see as he sends another sunbolt at your knees. The jolt of hot searing pain makes you cry out, and you know your feathered friends are attacking him more insistently now. His flight falters, and if they manage to send him falling into the snapping pit of angry canines... He was catlike enough to warrant an execution. 

"Call them off," Akuma bites at you, flinging cats left and right. You flinch as one hits the wall, panting in the effort of trying to get back up while feeling the torment of your helpers fighting the Starbloods. 

"I, I will if, you guys fucking leave me, alone!"

Akuma glares at you before he holds a palm out towards Heartfire, trying to shake off another two cats biting into his other arm. A wisp of black dissipates through the crowd of birds attacking his floating friend, making them fly off. The cat-boy just barely manages not to drop into the group of waiting dogs, and you hurriedly push yourself up against the dirty alley wall, wincing at the sting in your knees and back. 

"Stop this!" Heartfire yells at you. 

"Y-you stop first!"

He directs you a look that's a lot more familiar, of stern disappointment, and places his left hand on his chest. Uh oh. 

You shove yourself off of the wall, just as you feel a wave of energy explode out of Akuma, sending cats flying everywhere. A rage unlike any other seizes you; cats very consciously select allegiances and the ones who attacked Akuma clearly chose you over him, considering some respond to him like crows. How dare he treat them like this-

"Fuck you!" You're screaming and angry and fire flows through your skin, spasming, making you jerk around like a rabid creature in a seizure, what's happening to you-

What registers first through the confusing haze of pain is the way your bones seem to snap, the way your wrists bend unnaturally and your fingers are melding and these sharp things are pushing out of your knuckles-

"What! What's happening to her!"

"Shoot her, Heartfire! Your sunbolts, knock her out!"

"No, no I cannot-"

"Do it!"

You hear them but you can't focus enough to summon the appropriate responsive emotions, you can't do anything, there is only anger, and your spine cracks without instantly killing you and your lips split painfully as your teeth grow-

"She can't control it, Heartfire, quick- please-"

You hear it before it barely begins this time, your hearing taking in much more than before, the very air waves around you alerting you. You snap upwards to lock eyes on him: Heartfire still hovering, the dogs dispersing and running terrified out of the alley for some reason, Heartfire's hand on his heart and the other extended palm-out towards you, bright unnatural green light filling your vision-

Your pain spikes, you are in an oven, burning, but not really, it's gone almost immediately, and your spasming is dying down but so is the world around you. The last thing you know before blacking out is a pair of black-clad arms around you and Akuma's upside-down face right above yours, his dark eyes wide and radiating human emotion, and you've never seen him look so...

The blackness descends upon you and the pain vanishes along with all else. 

\--

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you as always for reading, I hope this fic still has an appeal! I, for one, am back on my bullshit so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Also I'm crying I recently sketched my character ideas on Sollux's and Eridan's costumes and I realize Sollux shares some similarities with Anissa (Thunder) from Black Lightning aaaaaAAAAAA
> 
> Then again, this entire fic is based on matching hs characters to stereotypical tropes to characters from Teen Titans. So... 
> 
> Anyway I'm gonna shut up now skdjfkjd any feedback is appreciated! xx


	7. Research & Analysis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eridan does a little data digging but her impatient patient demands her presence. 
> 
> Not much going on here, but I can't post my next chapter because I've decided to write a new one to slot between. I'm not the most organised...

"-complete surprise, as witnesses say the Starblood Team seemed to be engaging with a civilian-"

You hardly listen to the man on the news channel, even though you'd turned the volume up at the mention of Gemini's teammates causing a ruckus. It had initially made you wonder whether they were even concerned at her disappearance; why weren't they scouring the country looking for her, instead of getting into some skirmish? 

Perhaps they trusted each other to remain safe and stay out of the dens of murderous heirs of the local drug empire. Still, it was about five days now, and if you had any inkling of BloodKnight's Type-A personality... 

"-clearly, not a civilian at all. Suspected to be known criminal acti-"

You return your attention to the data before you, details of Gemini's physical report spread across three different monitors. Calypso had taken her time about it, but a very thorough analysis on the strange biological and not-so-organic parts of Gemini had been conducted. And it had taken you just as long to get around to reading it properly, anyway, what with fighting Gemini's ridiculous attitude and fighting your own... _feelings_... about this situation. 

And what a read it is. 

You scan the details of the bio-cybernetic eye that the Starblood apparently has in her right socket. The side that generates red psionic blasts when she takes off her goggles, you remember vividly.

Her other eye is organic, supposedly her original. However, Calypso did detect modifications near the back of her retina, the same style of modifications found attached to the biotech reparations to small parts of her frontal lobe. 

So her brain has been damaged _before_ ; and on top of the biotech reparations, there's an addition that exists to assist Gemini in a specific purpose. To accurately convert her neural energy into electric energy at the force and speed that she does. At least, for her left eye. The right one, the ocular implant, generates it's own electric blast, and the report implies heat energy as well. 

You are fascinated, utterly amazed. Gemini is a cyborg of sorts. Which in itself, is probably not that amazing; however, she's been done so well that it's impossible to know from just looking at her. 

On the third screen, a closer scan of her blood tests reveals micro-elements attached to her platelets that, you suspect from reading the supplementary information, caters to conducting electrical charge throughout her body without harming her organic functions. 

You swivel around in your chair, rolling over to the metal counter holding the machinery that's scanning her silver rings. It contains the same elements as the micro-conductors in her blood, though altered, and the same tech that makes up half of her eyes and part of her brain. Although the makeup is not entirely the same, it is certainly a story beneath the coating of silver. 

"Why does she wear the colours switched..." You murmur, poking at the blue one with your tongs. Clearly, her psionic blasts themselves retain a colour unique to their source: blue from her more organic thought wave conversion aided by the tech, red from the purely cybernetic generation that also produces heat. You know her goggles reflect this theme; so why are her rings on the opposite fingers? 

When she uses her hands for blasts, you believe the light retains the same theme. Therefore, it would make more sense to match her rings with that, wouldn't it? Would she just switch them for no reason? 

Even when she's not there, she drives you insane with her unpredictability. 

Sighing, you turn back to the screens. The obvious conclusion steadily comes to you over the time you spend digging into her personal data: Gemini isn't a natural Technokinetic Gifted. 

"Well, fuck," you curse softly, letting the entirety of this sink into your understanding of her. "She probably does naturally have some enhanced neuro-electric tendencies ...but...her psionics are only possible, not just through technological assistance, but actual techno-generation."

Which means her Gift...was what? Was it her cloning if she didn't even use it? 

It couldn't just be flight. You'd watched her fly enough times to know it was basic anti-gravitational manipulation more than flight. It was a common enough feature for powerful Gifteds, and it wasn't usually the actual Gift. What if she did more than cloning?

"What the fuck are you, Twinkle..." you whisper, eyes moving to a feed monitoring her in her chamber. Calypsobot had brought her a long cotton skirt you didn't even remember owning, and one of your favourite T-shirts (to your horror at the time). Not only had this greatly improved her mood (along with the receiving of bathroom privileges), which you suppose is understandable, it had also seemed to please her despite her complaining about the articles of clothing. You'd scowled at the screen while drinking in every immature reaction, almost charging down there yourself to bicker with her. 

Well, you lived by yourself and you'd told Calypso not to bother finding her new clothes, so she's just going to have to deal with yours. This isn't a 5-star resort (it's better, in your opinion). She's lucky you have more clothes than you care for and tons of untouched toiletries, all clearly above her usual budget. 

Now she's back on her metal table after much mechanical coaxing from Calypsobot, her ankles shackled once more. Her wrists remain free, and she's clearly trying to summon her psionics. She's been doing it a lot since visibly overcoming most of her physical ailments since yesterday. 

"Query," Calypso's voice breaks you out of stalker mode, and you nearly jump. "Based on parameter layout of the Psioffic Dungeon-" you grin yet again at the stupid name you gave it- "-air circulation and cooling is questionable."

You make an irritated noise. "Questionable how?"

Calypso draws up your diagrams, enlarging the space that's being changed to contain your patient. You'd decided on a tiny window in her door to allow in air, but her actual space would have no electronics, meaning...

"...What, she can't take the heat?"

"Starblood predicted to dehydrate at even faster rate within-"

You groan. The crazy lightning girl is already severely dehydrated most of the time. She gulps down water nearly twice as much as your own intake and only went to the bathroom three times today. 

At least the lighting issue wasn't as annoying. You'd decided on a glass fixture that was accessible in the chamber next to her prison, into which you'd consistently depart some of your light energy. She isn't the only one who could cast a glow, you thought with a smirk. 

"Pending query-"

"I'll have a think," you snapped. "Put this on the sideburner."

"Noted."

You turn back to reading up on Gemini's biology, but decide for a change in focus. You can't sit here and obsess over the techno-freak forever. 

Switching to your research on the Makaras, you resume your study of an article from the far corners of the dim web, delving into a supposed cult of ancient alien origins, and a system of priesthood within generations of the same family. The name "Makara" doesn't appear anywhere and yet this article, and a couple of other similar ones of which none were in English or most modern languages, popped up on Calypso's radar during her search. 

It is weird, though, and you detest the idea of finishing this article. The main concept it keeps vaguely mentioning is that a child of their all-mighty god of destruction would appear and bring about their salvation, but only if they find the child and initiate the familial connection. In which the Priest of the time plays an instrumental part. 

Sounds just about like every religion you ever heard of, except remixed a little worse. You close the article in boredom. 

"Scienceress!"

Your attention skids to the feed on Gemini, who is clearly staring up at where your camera is hidden. You frown; your micro-cams are tucked away well, how did she...

"I know you can hear me, asshole," she calls out and you bare your teeth even though she can't see. "I know you're watching me like some sorta perv."

"Calypso, kindly ask our _guest_ what the hell it is she wants."

You watch as she looks away from the camera for a moment, clearly focusing on Calypso's projected screen.

"Great. I just-" she looks back up, voice rising again, "I just wanted to talk, is that so bad? Can't spare a minute, _oh mistress?_ "

To your mortification, the last word she utters elicits a reaction out of you, heat crawling up your face. Thank the seas she could not see you; at least you would be able to keep composure if she says it again in your presence. 

"Tell the ingrate that I shall be with her shortly." Calypso's affirmation of your directive fades into silence, and you rest your forehead against steepled fingers. Certainly, you should not be humouring the Starblood so easily; however, after storming off the last time, you'd been avoiding her an entire day and since she clearly asked for you... 

You're only entertaining her request in case she needs to urgently discuss something, of course. And to check up on her recovery. That's all. 

You make your way out of your private quarters, through the manor and down to the lower levels. You have a video call scheduled with Feferi in an hour and a half, so you can't take too long...

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry, guys, still figuring out how AO3 works! 
> 
> I pray this story makes sense. Comments are highly appreciated, and fuel my motivation!! Critical feedback is fine, but not negativity/flaming. 
> 
> Thanks for reading if you made it this far! ♥


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